Upstate Warrior Solution (UWS) announced Jan. 6 receipt of a $1M leadership gift for the new Rupert Huse Veteran Resource Center project, which will serve as a hub for veteran services in the Upstate.
The project was named for U.S. Army veteran Rupert Huse, whose family initiated capital development efforts in 2021 by contributing a $500,000 leadership gift from a charitable fund in his name. According to a press release from UWS, this gift included a match challenge, which was recently achieved, seeding the campaign with $1 million.
“My husband, Steve and I are pleased to pay tribute to my father, Rupert Huse, who served honorably in the U.S. Army as he was also starting his career and family,” said Dorothy Dowe, Huse’s daughter who lives in Greenville. “Dad evolved to love his time in the military and held tremendous respect for our country’s veterans throughout his life. We are excited to see Upstate Warrior Solution use this gift to create a center to serve our local veterans and their families.”
Once fully operational, UWS will use the center to track and solve issues such as local rates of veteran suicide, unemployment and homelessness by working with community partners.
UWS also plans to use the resource center to broaden its reach by working with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs sanctioned Upstate Veteran Alliance Network (UVAN) to:
- Broaden the number of veterans served annually
- Increase the economic impact on the Upstate community
- Expand the veteran service network
“UVAN is one of four Community Veteran Engagement Boards in the state of South Carolina and UWS was instrumental in starting this network in 2016 and helping sustain it today,” said Kevin McBride, UVAN’s co-chair and Director of Prisma Health’s Military and Government Liaison Office. “The Veteran Resource Center will be a physical gathering space for all members of the UVAN community and we are grateful to UWS for running point on this outstanding project.”
The Rupert Huse Veteran Resource Center is being developed by a team of community members and more details will be released in later 2022.
