Upstate Warrior Solution (UWS) is celebrating 10 years of service to our local veterans!
Founded in 2012, this community-based, 501(c)3 nonprofit provides holistic services to veterans, first responders, and their families in the Upstate of South Carolina. UWS’ mission is to connect their clients to the services they need to thrive, lead them through the process of self-empowerment, and inspire the community to embrace them as valuable neighbors.
UWS takes a holistic, collaborative approach to achieving their ultimate goals of eliminating veteran suicide, homelessness, and unemployment. Their case managers work with a robust network of community partners to provide wrap-around services for housing, employment, mental health, recreation, VA benefits, and more. Through their referral pipelines with health care systems, law enforcement agencies, churches, nonprofits, and businesses, UWS works to build an environment where there’s no wrong door for veterans to access the help they need.
According to UWS President, Charlie Hall, those needs are often complex. “Our experience shows that there’s always a need beneath the need,” says Hall. “A veteran may come to us for help with housing, but we also find that they have untreated PTSD or legal issues that are keeping them from holding down a job. Our team takes a knee-to-knee approach to get to know our clients and understand their needs as a whole person.”
In 2023, UWS will take their community collaboration to the next level with the opening of the Rupert Huse Veteran Center in Greenville. The first of its kind in the region, this center will bring service providers together under one roof to help streamline services. “The idea to have a one-stop shop where clients can address a range of needs without having to travel to multiple locations,” says Charlie Hall. At this new resource center, veterans and their families will be able to apply for VA home loans, access legal services, connect with mental health resources, attend art therapy classes, and much more.
Currently, UWS is gearing up to serve local veterans and their families through the holidays and winter months. This includes engaging the community for their Operation Christmas Blessing, a sponsorship program where individuals or groups can help provide presents and necessities to local veteran families in need. It also includes supporting Operation Stuff the Duffel, Greenville County Veterans Affairs’ drive to collect hygiene items for homeless veterans.
Since 2012, UWS has connected with over 9,000 veterans and their families, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg with an estimated 100,000 veterans living in the Upstate. There’s still much work to be done to improve access to care for veterans, but UWS is committed to the work and excited to see what the next decade of service will bring.
Connect with UWS:
Facebook: @UpstateWarriorSolution
Instagram: @upstatewarrior