Greenville is on all the lists these days — as one of the best small cities to live in, one of the top 10 cities for affordability, and the friendliest city overall.
But despite such accolades, a national study in 2018 found that Greenville is an “extremely bad” place to climb the income ladder if you’re born into poverty. The Equality of Opportunity Project, a study led by Harvard University, ranked Greenville County the 24th worst out of nearly 2,500 counties for upward mobility. The metro area ranks 94th out of the 100 largest metro areas for the same thing.
This explains the Junior League of Greenville’s attention to economic mobility, one of the two areas it has focused its efforts on since 2019, alongside human trafficking.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize how challenging economic mobility is in Greenville County because we see a lot of development in the area,” JLG’s Communications Vice President Christine Owens said. “It’s really easy to think that this is such a prosperous area, and that people do really well, but it’s actually very challenging.”
JLG’s human trafficking focus is geographically pertinent.
“It’s another issue that people just don’t think about a lot in Greenville, but we’re on the I-85 corridor,” she said. “So there are a lot of issues related to trafficking.”
JLG, which works to educate and engage its 1,200 members on addressing the focus areas in partnership with other local nonprofits, is set to host a Mardi Gras bash in February to raise funds for their training curriculum, grants program, and community projects that fall within its focus areas.
Guests at Mardi Gras Magic, from 7 to 10 p.m. Feb. 3, 2024, at The Rutherford, will feast on food from The Lost Cajun and shipped-from-New Orleans king cake while dancing all night to music from the Erica Berg Collective.
More than 30 organizations applied for this year’s JLG grants. Grant recipients will receive up to $15,000 toward a new or ongoing project intended to expand their services to help more Greenvillians.
“It’s great to be part of an organization that has such a legacy in Greenville, and I feel like I am always learning about new things that the Junior League has done in the past,” said Owens of her experience in JLG, which started in 1929. “Not only did JLG help found Pendleton Place, we also played a key role in the beginning the Roper Mountain Science Center and The Warehouse Theatre. That’s kind of a cool legacy to be part of.”
JLG is currently seeking additional sponsors for its Mardi Gras Magic event. This event is open to all. Community members are invited to purchase tickets, starting at $85, at jlgreenville.org/mardigras.
