About The Simple Room

For the last 30 years our mission has been to do everything we can to care for the youth of our community. When asked about the kids we serve, we would tell you that we care about kids who have wonderful potential – they are so full of youth and energy and talent and dreams. We want to empower them by providing them with resources, opportunities, and support to help them succeed. We want to see our kids grow and develop and, ultimately, be able to give back and positively engage their community. For this reason, our organization’s mission statement focuses on development and community: “The Simple Room transforms youth by facilitating Christ-centered programming for spiritual, physical, mental, and social development in efforts to empower youth to positively engage their community."

Our open hours are Monday-Saturday evenings from 6-10 pm, with programs taking place during those hours and at other various times throughout the week. Students who attend open hours are free to hang-out, do homework, play games, eat snacks, and participate in programs.

During the school year we regularly serve about 90 kids per month by facilitating 13 programs with support from a team of nearly 40 volunteers a week. All our programs are offered free of cost to participants and provide opportunities for youth to develop their whole person. Our programming is based on our ability to connect community resources with our kids interests and needs. All our programs have benefited from, and would not be possible, without our network of quality relationships with local social work and law enforcement agencies, area public schools, churches and community organizations, and Greenville College.

Click here, to read about The Simple Room's history.

About Our Staff

Director: Lee O’Connor


Lee has been a part of the Simple Room since August 2004 when he transferred to Greenville College, from Seattle Pacific University. It was the Crossroads program that first attracted him to our ministries where he was able to be a mentor to one of the young men at our center. From there he moved into a part-time position under the guidance of former director Jim Mclaughlin. In July of 2007 Lee accepted the director’s position and has served in this role since. Some of Lee's passions include community building, endurance racing, and family relaxing, all while living within the grasps of the Grace, Love, and Peace that set all free in Jesus Christ.

E-mail: loconnor@simpleroom.org

Director's Assistant: Yevora Mosley

Yevora joined the staff in October 2007 as a secretary through a grant funded by YEEP (Youth Employment Enrichment Program). She served till the successful completion of that program, and has been hired on through the Simple Room. She does secretarial duties during the day hours, and serves as a supervisor to the night activities. She also has a passion for the young ladies in our center, and is the coordinator of our women’s groups. Besides working for us Yevora is also a full time wife, mother of two, and student! She is currently working on her bachelor's degree in Psychology. We appreciate all that Yevora brings to us, and especially to the youth of this community.

E-mail: ymosley@simpleroom.org

Resource Development Coordinator: Kaity Teer

Kaity began volunteering at The Simple Room as a Greenville College freshman in order to fulfill required service hours for a general education course. The experience was incredibly transformative for her. As a result she was motivated to add Social Work as a double major and had a strong desire to continue volunteering at The Simple Room. She completed a 2-year internship with The Simple Room during her junior and senior years of college. Kaity officially joined The Simple Room staff as the Resource Development Coordinator after graduating from Greenville College in May 2010 with degrees in English and Social Work.

E-mail: kteer@simpleroom.org