Veterans group to offer services in new home at Spartanburg philanthropy center
When the Spartanburg County Foundation opened the $6 million Robert Hett Chapman III Center for Philanthropy last year, one of its big goals was to provide a permanent home for a community partner organization.
Mission accomplished.
“This is a day that we have planned for quite some time since before the footings of the Center for Philanthropy were laid back in 2018,” said Mary Thomas, executive director of the Center for Philanthropy and Chief Operating Officer of the foundation.
On Thursday, Dec.1, Thomas introduced Upstate Warrior Solution as the center’s first Partner in Residence.
“We are happy to have you here with us today and for the future,” Thomas said. “We’re delighted that the Center for Philanthropy will be a site for our veterans to receive support.”
The veteran services group has signed a multi-year lease on a 2,400-square-foot space on the building’s second floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out on Kennedy Street and the space provides elbow room and offices for Upstate Warriors’ Spartanburg staff members and working space for its partner organizations as they serve veterans.
The Partner in Residence space is named for John T. Wardlaw, a foundation trustee emeritus who died in 2018. Wardlaw, who served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, was a textile executive and a community service leader in Spartanburg.
The Center for Philanthropy is located across the street from the Foundation’s offices. The 15,000-square-foot, high-tech facility has space for large and small meetings and events, and offers a place for “anyone who is working for the benefit of the community,” Thomas said.
Since its ribbon-cutting in June 2021, Thomas says more than 2,000 people have used the center for more than 100 meetings of community groups and organizations, along with dozens of foundation and other community events.
Upstate Warrior Solution was founded in 2012 as a one-stop organization to help veterans receive services or be connected to organizations that can provide assistance. Services range from employment and housing assistance to family and health care services, to help navigate the bureaucracy of the Veterans Administration. It operates offices in Greenville, Anderson and Easley, as well as Spartanburg.
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“Spartanburg is one of our key service communities,” said Charlie Hall, president of Upstate Warrior Solution. “We needed to expand our capacity to serve our Spartanburg veterans with a location that also provides space for our partners.”
More than 100,000 veterans live in the Upstate, about 30,000 of them in Spartanburg County, Hall said.
Before the move last week, Upstate Warrior Solution had operated in several locations scattered across Spartanburg, but Hall said the new location is a perfect fit. The office is expected to be fully operational by early January 2023.
Chuck Milteer is editor of Spartanburg Magazine, which is published quarterly in the Herald-Journal. Reach him at cmilteer@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Upstate Warrior Solution finds a new home in Spartanburg
