A female Marine Corps veteran joined with the South Carolina Department of Veterans Affairs to open the first women veteran resource center in the state.
DeAndria Hardy is from Upstate South Carolina. She deployed to Senegal while serving in the Marines.
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“After returning from Dakar, I started having a lot of physical and mental health issues,” she said. “Unfortunately, I was a victim of military sexual trauma while in Dakar.”
By 2017, Hardy found herself homeless and “couch surfing.”
“Everywhere I went for help, it was discouraging,” she said.
Hardy said her family, especially her mother and younger sister, were her “Battle Bettys” during that time. Then, her sister was killed in a car accident.
“She was very much about me getting better,” she said.
Following her sister’s death, Hardy relocated to Spartanburg, but found few resources for female veterans.
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“In South Carolina, especially in Upstate, the idea is veterans are male, not small, black girls with braids,” she said. "I realized all those times that I was looking for help, there wasn't anywhere to find it.”
That led Hardy to found the nonprofit BattleBetty Foundation, which focuses on the needs of female veterans. Hardy said there are around 45,000 female veterans in South Carolina.
The women veterans resource center was opened in Jonesville in February.
“We are hoping on Women Veterans Day in June to take in our first client,” she said.
The center will feature an emergency shelter and peer support.
"The center is focused on taking care of her," Hardy said. "That's housing, empowerment, and reintegration."
Hardy said Jonesville was selected as the location of the center because of its small-town feel and peaceful environment. BattleBetty Foundation will help with transportation needs.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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