Our Story
A Successful Beginning
As we move into our fourth year of recovering and shielding veterans from the trauma of homelessness, we turn from looking back on the excitement of how far we have come to a sharpened focus on the future and where our mission is taking us. If you have followed us this far in our journey, you will surely agree that there has been much to celebrate in our young history, with twenty-eight veterans served since opening our doors in 2021.
With the community’s investment during our inception and growth, we began to walk out the mission that so many of us care about, which is eliminating veteran homelessness in our community. Along the way we have developed an even clearer understanding of the scope of this need and have begun to plan strategically toward meeting those challenges beyond our present focus, without compromising the good work we are already doing. Our transitional beds for homeless veterans are merely the first step in a process. While recovering them to complete wellness and independent living is the goal, the pathways to get them there and the support needed to keep them there, are continually changing with the landscape of our culture.
The five beds we currently operate are a great start, but simply not enough to meet the need. Affordable permanent housing to transition our once homeless veterans into is in short supply as well. We have therefore further developed our vision going forward to actively pursue in-roads into the Spartanburg area housing market to acquire more of each. We intend to add to our existing five transitional recovery beds, as well as pursue a portfolio of permanent supportive housing options, especially for older fixed income veterans, who have made up more than half of the residents in our transitional program thus far.
We are excited to expand our availability and services as we continue investing in the legacy we have started on behalf of our community to end veteran homelessness from our current Spartanburg residence.
Meet The Board and Staff
Dr. Craig Burnett
Board Chair, Vietnam Veteran and Retired Psychologist
Darwin Simpson
Vice Chair, Major General, U.S. Army (Retired)
Dr. Loreta Dylgjeri
Treasurer, Community Liaison at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind
Beth Rutherford
Secretary, Homeless Engagement Specialist, City of Spartanburg, former Executive Director, at SPIHN
Carol Mabry
Board Member, Community Philanthropist
Logan Hillstock
Board Member, U.S. Army Veteran, Upstate Director of Celebrate Recovery
Dr. Sheila Davis
Board Member, Senior Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Dr. Peter Moore
Board Member, U.S. Army Veteran, Retired Professor, Wofford College
James Mulak
Ex-Officio Board Member, U.S Marine, Director of Warrior Advocacy at Upstate Warrior Solution
Chris Pfohl
Founder, Executive Director, U.S. Marine, Retired U.S. Marshal
Alexis Hunter
Care Coordinator, Afghanistan Veteran, Army National Guard
Not Pictured
Marianna Habisreutinger – Board Member, Community Philanthropist
Paul Lehner – Board Member Emeritus
Sara Lehner – Board Member Emeritus
Ricky Carpena – Board Member, Successful WOA Graduate
Sarah Daniel – Board Member, United Way of the Piedmont