Twenty-five years after 9/11, Upstate Warrior Solution stands with those who answered the call

This week marks 25 years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a morning that sent a generation of Americans toward recruiting offices, firehouses and police academies. A quarter century later, many of those who answered that call are now veterans and retired first responders living quietly among neighbors in communities across the Upstate.

For Upstate Warrior Solution, a Greenville-based nonprofit, those neighbors are the whole reason the doors open every morning.

The organization connects veterans, first responders and their families to resources and opportunities, guides them through the process of self-empowerment and works to inspire communities to embrace them as valued neighbors and friends. Headquartered in Greenville, Upstate Warrior Solution maintains physical locations in all five Upstate counties it serves: Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Pickens and Oconee. Roughly 70% of its staff members are veterans, former first responders or both.

“The 9/11 generation is entering a new season,” said Charlie Hall, president of Upstate Warrior Solution. “The young men and women who enlisted in 2001 and 2002 are now retiring, changing careers, raising teenagers and figuring out who they are without a uniform. Anniversaries like this one remind the country to say thank you. Our job is to still be here on Sept. 12 and every day after that.”

Where the idea started

Hall came to the work through his own service. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he served in the U.S. Army beginning in 1996 and transferred to the Marine Corps in 2002, deploying to Iraq in 2004 and 2005. He later settled in Greenville and spent five years with the Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment as district injured support coordinator for South Carolina and Georgia, work that put him face to face with the gap between the help that exists and the help families can actually find. He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in August, closing out 30 years in uniform.

In 2010, he was among a group of veterans and community leaders who began meeting about that gap. The organization they formed incorporated in 2012 and received nonprofit status the following year.

“Veterans are among the most resourced people in America, and they are also among the most frustrated,” Hall said. “There is a federal system, a state system, a private sector and a nonprofit world, and none of them talk to each other the way a family in crisis needs them to. We built this organization to be the one phone call that gets you to the right place.”

One roof, many doors

The process begins with an intake questionnaire. From there, a county-based warrior advocate works one on one with the veteran or first responder to set goals and coordinate care. Support spans career services, benefits coordination, housing, physical and mental health, family services, legal support , recreation and wellness and spiritual support.

Much of that work now happens under one roof at the Rupert Huse Veteran Center at 770 Pelham Road in Greenville, a 40,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2023 and serves as a hub for veterans, first responders, their families and partner organizations. The building is named for U.S. Army veteran Rupert Huse, whose family launched the capital campaign with a leadership gift.

Extending the mission to first responders

In 2022, the organization opened its services to law enforcement, firefighters and EMS personnel, a decision rooted in the same events the country remembers this week.

“On Sept. 11, the world watched police officers and firefighters run toward the thing everyone else was running away from,” said Theresa Thompson, chief operating officer of Upstate Warrior Solution. “We ask first responders to carry other people’s worst days, over and over, and then we act surprised when the weight shows up at home. Service-related injuries, post-traumatic stress and vicarious trauma do not check whether you wore camouflage or a badge.”

Thompson brings a first responder’s perspective to the leadership team. She served as a Greenville police officer from 1997 to 2013 before moving into nonprofit work, holds a master’s degree in community agency counseling from Clemson University and is a nationally certified counselor. She also serves on the advisory board at Pelham Medical Center.

Since 2013, Upstate Warrior Solution has assisted more than 14,000 veterans, 525 first responders and 1,900 family members.

Kayaks, courtrooms and second chances

Programming reaches beyond case management. The Recreation and Wellnessprogram, offered in partnership with Prisma Health’s Roger C. Peace Rehabilitation Hospital and other organizations, gives warriors and their families free opportunities ranging from archery and kayaking to skiing and yoga. A justice-involved outreach program partners with detention centers, law enforcement agencies and veterans treatment courts to help at-risk and incarcerated veterans regain stability.

What neighbors can do

Thompson said community members often ask what they can do, particularly around anniversaries and holidays.

“Hire a veteran. Check on the deputy who lives on your street. Invite the widow of a service member to church,” Thompson said. “The dramatic gestures are wonderful, but what actually saves lives is somebody noticing that a person has gone quiet and picking up the phone.”

Hall said the anniversary is a reminder of a debt that does not expire.

“Supporting the people who served this country and this community is not charity,” Hall said. “It is the bare minimum we owe them, and we are honored to do it.”

Veterans, first responders and family members seeking assistance, along with community members interested in volunteering or donating, can connect with Upstate Warrior Solution at upstatewarriorsolution.org or by calling 864-520-2073.