68 Acres of Hope

On 68 acres in Bishopville, South Carolina, PTSD Veterans Village is working to create a path of safety, healing and long-term stability for women veterans and their children. Founded by Laurie A. Strange, an Afghanistan combat war veteran, the nonprofit was born out of a need to serve unhoused and unsheltered veterans in South Carolina. Over time, the organization recognized a population too often unseen: women veterans experiencing homelessness, housing instability and invisible wounds after service.

Many of these women are considered the “silent homeless.” Their hardship may not always be visible to the public, but the need is real. PTSD Veterans Village has listened to stories of women veterans and their children sleeping in tents, cars, vans and uninhabitable buildings. Some are navigating post-traumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma, domestic violence, unemployment, single parenting, substance use challenges, a lack of affordable housing or the lasting effects of combat.

For Strange and the PTSD Veterans Village team, this work is deeply personal. What began as a mission has grown into a calling and a passion to provide a housing program where unsettled sisters-in-arms can move from homelessness to homeownership.

“Our ultimate vision is to take them from homelessness to homeownership,” says Strange. “Together, we can and we will make this a reality for our women veterans and their children.”

The organization believes that all wounds are not visible. Many women veterans return home carrying anxiety, depression, hopelessness and the scars of war while continuing to wear a mask of strength. Pride, service and patriotism often remain central to their identity even when they are unsheltered, unhoused or without necessities.

“Pride is in our DNA,” says Strange. “It is in our bones and marrow. Homeless, but proud. Unsheltered, but proud. Unhoused, but proud.”

PTSD Veterans Village is designed to be more than a transitional housing facility. The vision is to build a supportive housing community where women veterans can rebuild their lives, restore their confidence and rediscover their purpose. The work is rooted in dignity, safety, healing and hope, with a focus on helping women rebound from the traumas of the past while preparing for a more stable future.

The tiny home model is central to that vision. Each home is intended to provide a private, safe space where a woman veteran can begin her healing process with dignity, peace and stability. For a woman reclaiming her life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, a tiny home can become more than a structure. It can become a turning point.

“As our country prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary on July 4, we will celebrate along with our nation,” says Strange. “Join us as we build a Village of Hope and declare Independence Day for women veterans.”

Strange says the Adopt a Tiny Home for Unsheltered Women Veterans campaign is a powerful invitation for the community to act. 

“The campaign is more than a fundraising initiative; it is an opportunity to create a legacy for women who sacrificed in service to our country,” she explains. “Churches, corporations, civic groups, veterans’ organizations, families and individual sponsors can all play a meaningful role in the healing journey of a woman veteran by helping sponsor a tiny home.”

According to Strange, phase one of the program is especially important because it focuses on getting women veterans off the streets and back on their feet. Support may help provide the home itself, furnishings, household essentials, utilities, transportation aid, supportive services or other resources needed to stabilize residents as they rebuild their lives.

“For PTSD Veterans Village, the best way to thank a veteran for her service is to help a veteran,” says Strange. “Every sponsored home, every donated item and every community partnership become part of a larger promise: No woman veteran should feel forgotten after her time in service.”

Together, PTSD Veterans Village and its supporters are rebuilding hearts and tiny homes one day at a time. The organization carries a simple message for every woman veteran it seeks to serve: “Her story is our story.”

For more information, to donate or to support the Adopt a Tiny Home for Unsheltered Women Veterans campaign, call PTSD Veterans Village at 803-440-0048 or visit PTSDVeteransVillage.org.