History

The Spirit of Greenville

Founded by David Stone Sr. (1956-2009), a man with a vision for improving the lives of of less fortunate people in Greenville, several of whom he was lucky enough to call family and friends. Since he built strong relationships with a number of individuals in Greenville’s lower income community, he was intimately acquainted with their needs. He saw a large discrepancy between the wealth of many of Greenville’s citizens and the large number of those struggling to provide for themselves and their families. 

With the Spirit of Greenville, Stone set out to provide affordable housing for low-income citizens within the Greenville City Limits. Stone prioritized safe, clean, quality housing at considerably less than the market value. He reached out to the community—to churches, individuals, businesses and civic organizations—to gather funds in order to construct and maintain better housing solutions for the people who needed them most. 

Although Stone was able to begin fulfilling this dream in 2007 by building a few houses and even providing a church building for the community, he was not able to bring his vision to fruition, as he passed away in 2009.  David Stone Sr. taught us that in order to serve effectively, we must listen well to the needs and desires of the community. Today we seek to honor his legacy and expand on his vision by not only providing affordable housing, but also by partnering with the Greenville community to raise support in creating beautiful and sustainable public spaces for everyone. We also hope to promote and support the local arts by collaborating with artists to elevate the aesthetics of these spaces to improve the quality of living for everyone.