One of the largest providers of services to people experiencing homelessness in South Carolina, One80 Place opened its shelter doors in 1984. In 2012, the organization expanded to a new location, and now plans are well underway to build a new family shelter, community kitchen, and 70 units of affordable housing in downtown Charleston.

One80 Place is much more than a shelter, however, and working with 1000 Feathers helped the organization realize its vision, mission and values needed to reflect that fact. The relationship began in late 2019, just one month prior to Covid-19 reaching the United States. As 1000 Feathers was guiding the organization through a strategic planning process, One80 Place was having to quickly adapt its services and delivery model to respond to the pandemic. 

The resulting Strategic Direction 2020 became the roadmap One80 Place would follow—not only to overcome the challenges of the moment, but also to create an ongoing culture of learning throughout the organization. 1000 Feathers facilitated a staff retreat, conducted surveys of people living at the shelter, provided training to the management team, created new communications materials, and helped One80 Place build capacity to fulfill its new mission.

The impact of the long-term commitment to transformation has been a new way of thinking about homelessness. Beyond being seen as a provider of temporary shelter, One80 Place now envisions it role as a leadership organization focused on the ultimate goal of permanent housing for all. One80 Place is continuing to partner with 1000 Feathers as it works to ensure its voice is heard before system-wide decisions are made, build stronger alliances with other nonprofits, identify and eliminate gaps in services, and encourage increased accountability among all of Charleston’s community agencies.