What is MercyWorks | Our Focus | Board of Directors

What is MercyWorks

MercyWorks is an authorized 501(c)(3) non-profit with tax exempt status. It is governed by a Board of Directors made up of individuals representing a range of community organizations in the area.

Although the founders are motivated by their Christian faith, MercyWorks is not a religious organization and has no formal links with any particular church or faith group. Their simple goal is to raise funds to assist individuals and organizations that are working to improve the health, education and welfare of the people in Greenville County, South Carolina.

Our Focus

Located along I-85, Greenville is an area with acute socio-economic challenges. There are significant social problems among the permanent residents, and the highway brings a regular flow of transient homeless people. In addition, large numbers of immigrant families are settled in our area.

South Greenville is a strong and positive community, but it has a share of people with addiction problems, homelessness and health challenges. Crime in the area includes prostitution, human trafficking, unemployment and mental health issues. Homes are often broken by crime and it is the children and young people who suffer.

The churches, community centers, health clinics and schools are already doing excellent work among those who live and work in South Greenville, but more funding is needed to expand their work and improve the lives of those who want to move forward.

MercyWorks Board of Directors

Richard Morris

Rich Morris is a board member of MercyWorks and is aware of and supports the mission of this charitable 501(3)(c) organization. He is a father of 3 with 10 grandchildren, all living in the upstate of South Carolina. Originally, he and his family resided in the Chicagoland area where he worked for Xerox Corporation. They moved to the Greenville area when he opened his business, Morris Business Solutions, affiliated with Xerox. He is now retired and his sons Rick and Christopher run the day to day aspects of the business while he focuses on the health of his wife, Barbara. He and his family are strong believers in Jesus Christ.

Chris Plyler

Chris Plyler is a native of Columbia, South Carolina, who retired in Greenville, South Carolina after a thirty-eight year career with the University of South Carolina. He is husband to Allison, father of three adult children, and grandfather of six active grandchildren. He serves MercyWorks as a member of the Board and is a fervent supporter of its mission within the greater community.

Paul Bever

Paul Bever is a Catholic Christian, husband, father, and grandfather. He is a member of Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in Greenville, S.C. Originally from Pennsylvania, he retired from Michelin Tire Company in Greenville, S.C. where he worked in quality systems. Post-retirement, Paul helped establish the Mother Teresa House in Greenville, S.C. for outreach in the parish of Our Lady of the Rosary. Paul is also a Sidewalk Advocate for Life and serves on the board of MercyWorks as the Secretary. Paul fully understands and supports the mission of MercyWorks and the community it serves.

John Shorter

John Shorter is the Senior Vice President of Transformation for Infor, a division of Koch Industries. In this role he works closely with customers guiding their transformation efforts leveraging Infor’s product suites and the adoption of Industry 4.0 technology in their business transformations. A 1991 Graduate of the Virginia Military Institute where he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering, John is a retired submarine officer, who served tours on USS Henry M Jackson and USS Providence in addition to service at the Ballston Spa Nuclear Prototype and at Penn State University, where he earned an MS in Electrical Engineering. He is a 16-year GE Veteran where he served in multiple executive roles including leadership of the Supply Chain and Engineering Systems across the large industrial divisions of GE, where his organization led many digital transformations for GE industrial divisions. In this role his groups developed the first wide scale Digital Thread applications resulting in the rapid growth in aftermarket services for GE. He additionally spent 3 years at Oracle where he was the Vice President of Industry Services leading Industry 4.0 and Customer Business Transformation. At Oracle he worked with hundreds of large customers guiding their transformation journeys leveraging modern technologies.