The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and organizations like Upstate Warrior Solution provide many vital services for veterans. But some needs fall outside their scope, such as transportation to medical appointments, yard work and modifications to make a home more accessible.
Vets Helping Vets Greenville was founded to identify those needs and connect veterans with other veterans, supporters and resources.
“We consider ourselves a gap filler,” said Jeff Brown, VHV president. “A lot of veterans fall through the cracks with needs beyond what the VA can provide. Many in the vet community will not ask for help until the 11th hour, until they are in dire need. For some, we’re their last hope to solve a problem.”
Left to right: VHV Founder Bob Stucker, current President Jeff Brown and former President Randy England.VHV Greenville was established in January 2022 by founder Bob Stucker and three others. They were inspired by Vets Helping Vets Anderson. Just two years later, the Greenville group has 90 active members, with 50 to 60 attending weekly meetings.
Referrals of veterans in need of assistance come from Upstate Warrior Solution and VHV’s hotline, email, and Facebook pages. After the board confirms the veteran’s status and determines the cost of the remedy is within its means, the case is brought to the membership for volunteers.
Some needs go to a committee whose members visit veterans at home, in the hospital or in convalescent care, or reach out to fellow members who haven’t been to a meeting in a while. Larger projects are accomplished with the help of community partners. Recently, VHV partnered with Mungo Homes, Geico and Home Depot to provide accessibility modifications to a home and retrofit a van with a wheelchair lift for a 37-year-old Air Force veteran with multiple sclerosis.
Brown recalled one of his first clients, a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam who was referred to VHV by Upstate Warrior Solution. Within a neighborhood of well-tended yards, the veteran’s lot was so overgrown a complaint had been made to the county.
“A group of our members worked clearing the yard for 16 hours over four days,” Brown said. “When the assessor saw what we were doing, he said the vet wouldn’t need to worry about paying any fees or fines. Now we have a relationship with the code-enforcement office, so they reach out to us for issues involving veterans.”
Last year, Randy England, VHV’s past president, applied for a $5,000 grant from the Jolley Foundation to fund a ride program.
“We covered 186 Uber rides for $3,000, getting vets to and from a lot of critical appointments at the VA or with their doctor,” England said. “A lot of our Vietnam vets are older, in their 70s and 80s. They served, and we want to take care of them.”
Turnaround time for completing home projects is now about six weeks, but with more volunteers and available funds VHV believes it could shorten the wait. VHV welcomes partnerships with local businesses, churches and civic groups to help cover the cost of projects. The average cost to build a ramp is $1,200 to $1,500.
The Community Foundation of Greenville recently made an unrestricted grant of $2,500 in support of their work.
“Ninety-four percent of what we take in goes directly to helping vets. The remaining 6% covers our operating costs and liability insurance,” England said. “We have no paid employees and are funded strictly by donations and grants.”
Vets Helping Vets welcomes all veterans and supporters who want to serve the veteran community. Meetings are at 10 a.m. Thursdays, except the second Thursday of each month which is at 6:30 p.m., at the Elks Lodge at 7700 Pelham Road in Greenville.
For more information, to volunteer or donate, visit https://vhvsc.org/home/ or connect with the organization on Facebook.
