We are Veterans trying to help other Veterans!
Our Volunteers
After The Uniform is made up of some amazing people who donate their time and money to serve other Veterans. Most of our volunteers are Veterans themselves or family members of Veterans.
Our Mission
Our Mission is to provide assistance and support to Veterans in South Carolina. We want to be able to give back to the ones who have sacrificed so much for our country. To create a place of normalcy for them to be around others who have been through the same situations in hopes it prevents another life from being taken by suicide. We formed this organization because we have been in those tough times and want to make it a little easier for others if we can.
OUR GOALS
Veterans Community Center
We want a place for our Veterans to be able to come to get involved and not feel like an outsider. We want to offer a community center that brings a sense of peace over each of them when they walk through our doors. A place that our Veterans can come hang out with their peers and know they are not alone. They can come shoot basket, lift weights, talk to a counselor if they choose to, or sit and watch tv.
We will still provide assistance with VA claims and provide updated information about benefit, insurance, and any other news. We plan to have access to computers/ internet, provide assistance with a resume, and even have clothing to wear to a job interview. We will even provide child care for the veterans to attend the job interview. There will be different programs for our Veterans to help with PTSD in hopes it prevents another life from being taken by suicide.
This community center can offer so much for our Veterans by just letting them and their families know they are not alone.
Our History
After The Uniform started with just my husband, Shane and myself, Kathy in 2018 with just a group on Facebook. I was so frustrated watching Shane, who is a retired Veteran himself, struggle with basically everything he tried doing that had to do with navigating the VA system, his health, or just everyday life. As many Veterans know, Life after the military can be very difficult. I didn’t know really what or how I was going to help, but I was going to do whatever I could to make it just a little easier for some. I worked in the medical field for 20+ years doing medical billing / coding, so I‘m familiar with the ins and outs of medical claims, the verbiage, and what diagnosis needs to be filed primary or secondary. I try to use my knowledge to help some with their claims, provide resources, or just listen to them. Both, Shane and I help wherever there is a need. If we can’t help, we find someone who can. We collect items to make Blessing Bags for the homeless veterans each year. We collect items for Troop Boxes that we send to deployed troops at Christmas that can’t be with their families. We also host benefits to raise money for non profit charities that support Veterans. After The Uniform started with two and we have been blessed to have over thirty volunteers that want to help us with our mission.
VETERAN CALENDARS ARE HERE!
These calendars represent LIFE after the uniform with the support of family, friends, and the bond of veterans! This was a fun event for our veterans. If you are interested in a calendar, please let us know. All proceeds will go to help local veterans in need.
SONIC NIGHT
September 18th- After The Uniform will be at Sonic, Red Bank location! Come out and show your support!
Military Appreciation Night At Gilbert River Bluff Football Game
September 13th! Come out and support our Veterans and our active Military!
HORSE SENSE FALL-O-WEEN 2024
After The Uniform will be set up at Horse Sense Tack & Feed with flyers, bracelet, koozies, wooden crosses, etc. Come out and help us support our Veteran!
Blessing Bags and Troop Boxes
We collect items through out the year to prepare for Christmas deliveries!
Each year we deliver Blessing Bags that are filled with hygiene products, warm clothing, food, a Christmas gift, and etc to our homeless veteran.
We collect items to fill Troop Boxes that contain a little bit of HOME to send to the deployed.
If you would like to help support us with this please
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/UXQH5DD51TJ0?ref_=wl_share
Want to Help?
You can Help our local Veterans too! We have an Amazon wish list of items you can purchase from or you can donate to our Gofundme account below.
Fundraiser Information
Your donation will help us continue to bless other Veterans and support local non profit organizations that help our local veterans in South Carolina. Thank you for your support!
My Personal Testimony ( written five years ago)
Someone said to me, "y'all have been through so much, it has got to get better for y'all." My family has been through a lot, but each trail that has happened to us has made us stronger in our faith. Its not what happens to us that matters, it's how we don't let it ruin our lives! One chooses his or her destiny! Love each other and always trust in the Lord! My family is my rock!
I believe God is encouraging me to do this in hopes that maybe it will help at least one person. Some know the struggles my family has dealt with, but many do not. I don't want anyone to feel sad or sorry for us because we aren't sad. God does not make mistakes! It's a little long, but I didn't realize I was going to be ask to put on here either.
I have been a military wife for 23 years. My husband and I have two boys. Several years into our marriage, I was told I had cervical cancer and needed to have surgery to have part of my cervix removed. When I woke up from surgery I was told they had to do a hysterectomy because the cancer had spread into the uterus. I was fixing to turn 30. This meant no more kids, we were okay because we had two healthy boys already. We accepted it and I continued on with the doctor visits. Within a few months, my husband was told he was being deployed to Iraq. We dealt with that too because we are a military family. Thankfully, everyone came home from his unit and we thought everything would go back to normal. Little did we know that our lives were fixing to change forever? As many spouses of military soldiers know, when a soldier returns from a war zone they change. My husband could no longer attend any function with a lot of people unless he was sitting at the back so no one was behind him. He was always on alert and you sure didn’t startle him. He slept very little and when he did he had nightmares. When I suggested he get help, there was nothing wrong and he didn’t need help. When he did decide to go to the VA, he was diagnosed with PTSD. So for years the kids and I learned to basically tip toe around him. We knew he was struggling and there wasn’t anything we could do to help. He worked, but couldn’t keep a full time job, he couldn’t deal with stress, anxiety, or just people in general. This caused a lot of stress on our marriage. We had gotten where we couldn’t talk without arguing. I would pray for him every day and ask God to help me help him. I just didn’t know how much more I could take. He would tell me, Just hold on. I would get so frustrated because several more years went by, his symptoms were getting worse, he started drinking, and I grew tired. I remember asking God,” WHY? I don’t understand what you want me to do. I love him with all my heart, I just want to help him”. He would tell me, just hold on. So we made it another year and life was getting busy, we had one of our son fixing to graduate high school. This whole time I was worried I had not made a good impression on our children. I wasn’t a good role model. They had seen all of the struggles and arguments between us. I thought I failed as a mother and a wife. My husband was drinking even more. Making purchases without discussing with me, I was beginning to think I was invisible. I’m still praying every day for him. I would get the same answer, Just hold on, don’t give up. So another year went by and he is drinking more, telling us that his medicine isn’t working. It came to the point where he got so depressed- VA kept telling him it’s just PTSD-here is some different medicine. He began to think that he was just going to have to deal with it until it had gotten to the point that we had to take him into the hospital at VA because he wanted to harm himself. I felt like a failure and couldn’t understand why God wanted me to hold on. This was on a Tuesday we took him to the hospital, they kept him of course. Wednesday, I received a phone call that I needed to come down to VA. The neurologist needed to talk to me, my husband had been misdiagnosed and because of this mistake, had been given the wrong medication for all these years. He has a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and is in early stages of Alzheimer’s. He will never be able to hold down a full time job and should be considered 100% disabled. He will have to take medication to help prolong his symptoms hopefully until he is in his 60s. I had so many emotions, I didn’t know whether to cry, punch something, or scream. When I left the VA, I was so angry because how could this happen? How could he go to the doctor for seven years to be treated for PTSD and no one pick up on this? I wanted to lash out, but instead I did what I always did, I prayed. I prayed, asking God why? Haven’t we been through enough? During that night, I started thinking back. I had ask God to help me help him. In the earlier years, my husband wasn’t ready to except the fact that he was losing control. God doesn’t let anything go undone. Throughout all the years of struggles and heartache, I realized that I didn’t fail. I did what God wanted me to do, hold on. He knew the bigger picture-he knew what I couldn’t see. Then I also realized that we have two boys. One that is about to finish college after struggling himself from seizures. The other one in high school preparing himself for college in couple of years. If these bad things didn’t happen in our lives, we wouldn’t have seen the blessings the Lord has given us. Seeing all of this, our boys could have easily went down the wrong path and instead they learned from it. So I encourage you to “Hold On”. I know every situation is different and I don't know your story, but I do know that God will see you through the Storm!
We have been fighting with the VA for so many years, but I would not let Shane give up! Finally, on God’s timing, he has been granted 100%.
We all have been faced with struggles. One is no more important than another. I’m just asking you to HOLD ON, DON’T GIVE UP! God is listening!
If you would like to partner with us or make a donation please see link below!
Your support and contributions will help us to meet our goals and the opportunity to continue providing resources for our Veterans here in South Carolina. Your generous donation will help us continue to give back.
SPECIAL THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE THIS POSSIBLE!
Our Sponsors for the Veteran Calendars
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