Renee Shaw remembers the fear she felt before leaving her abusive marriage, the courage it took to do so and the challenges that came after.
“Bottom line, I was scared to leave,” Shaw says. “People say, ‘Why don't you just leave?’ It's really not that easy because you allow your husband to get into your brain and alter your thinking to where you believe you can't do anything.”
When she did leave, the journey was rocky. She and her children stayed at a hotel in Columbia, South Carolina, and then at a family shelter. Homelessness and resentment from her children took a mental and emotional toll. Her son, who was in his 20s, eventually left. Her daughter, in her early teens, blamed her mom for their situation.
Now Shaw, who earned her master’s degree in social work at the University of South Carolina last year, draws on those struggles in a fellowship at Triune Mercy Center in Greenville, South Carolina.
“I know from experience that homelessness is a complex problem,” she says. “There are issues such as substance abuse and mental illness. Sometimes it’s a result of making bad decisions. Sometimes it’s something out of their control like Hurricane Helene or losing a job. When they can’t pay their rent, things can quickly spiral.”
Transition to Stability
Before Shaw eventually secured permanent housing in Greenville, she found encouragement and inspiration at Sistercare in Columbia, where she met other women who had been in her situation and had found stability and even new careers. When she left Sistercare, Shaw secured a placement with the Salvation Army in Greenville, but she could see her daughter was struggling. She knew they both needed an attitude adjustment.
“We were in the parking lot at Chick-fil-A, and she was screaming at me. She said, ‘You did this; you made me homeless,’” Shaw says. “She had never done that before, so I just listened. Then I said, ‘You know what, you’re right? It was my decision. Please forgive me. What can I do to fix this?’”
At the top of the list was permanent housing, followed by her daughter’s interest in attending high school at The Fine Arts Center. Shaw says she would’ve moved heaven and earth to make those things happen. Her daughter saw her determination, and their relationship improved. She found a place to live, and her daughter graduated from The Fine Arts Center and now attends Palmetto College. Her son lives in Seattle, Washington.
For solace, Shaw relied heavily on her faith. Although she had not been raised in a religious family, she says she has always been spiritual. After her mother died, she felt lost and began having conversations with God. When she became homeless, her faith grew, partly through mandatory church attendance but mostly from her own desire to develop a prayer life. She also began attending church at Triune Mercy Center, where she now works.
“It wasn't a big thing. I just started praying and listening,” she says. “As time went on, I listened more and began asking for help.”
During this time, Shaw sought counseling for childhood sexual trauma with a licensed clinical social worker at the Julie Valentine Center. That social worker planted the seed for Shaw to pursue a new career.
A new career in social work
Once her daughter graduated from high school, Shaw decided it was “time to work on Mama.” After her therapist had suggested social work might be a good fit for Shaw, who has a nursing background, she did some research and decided to pursue a degree at USC.
“It's a very powerful and versatile degree with opportunities for clinical and mezzo- and macro-level work,” she says.
As she neared graduation, Shaw applied for a new fellowship at Triune Mercy Center. The selection process was rigorous, including an essay, letters of recommendation and a panel interview.
Rachael Mason, a social worker at Triune who developed the fellowship, says it is designed to provide postgraduate training in social justice-oriented practice in a nonprofit setting. The program aims to sharpen both social work skills through an integrative model of therapeutic and community-based interventions at the individual, small group and community levels.
“We serve the most vulnerable populations in our community,” Mason says. “I believe that excellent, evidence-based, compassionate care should not only be for those who can pay for it. The motivation for this is two-fold: It is to provide master’s level expertise care to the least of these, while also helping a new grad achieve independent licensure with a well-rounded experience without paying an arm and leg for supervision."
The benefits also include a small salary, health care stipend and the potential for continued employment and assistance with student loan debt.
Putting her experience to work
Triune’s mission to “share Christ’s love by providing life-changing opportunities, meeting the needs of the disadvantaged, and doing biblical justice in community” allows Shaw to share the empathy and faith she gained through her experience with homelessness.
Through the fellowship, she is gaining skills in individual and group counseling as well as community outreach through involvement with local initiatives to reduce homelessness, such as Greenville Homeless Alliance and Greenville Organized Accountable Leadership (GOAL), an interfaith justice ministry. She also participates on the Lived Experience Council, which is part of a Greenville task force to develop a comprehensive action plan to address homelessness.
“To better understand the needs of the homeless population and how they can address these issues, they asked individuals who have been homeless to provide input and ideas based on our personal experiences,” Shaw says.
Shaw is thankful for the personal and professional growth she has achieved, for the challenges overcome, and for the support and opportunities she received on her journey from homelessness. She is excited about using her skills in her goal to become a licensed social worker and plans to work with the homeless through outreach and education. She also hopes to become a field instructor to help social work students gain practical experience.
Her personal and professional goals are grounded in the importance of showing respect, kindness and love to those in need.
“You don’t have to be preaching to show God’s love,” Shaw says. “A simple act or word of kindness can make a big difference – like telling them they look nice or offering them a cup of coffee or celebrating their successes.”
A simple act or word of kindness can make a big difference