PEWAUKEE, Wis. — A Waukesha County Technical College professor is making a difference in the lives of veterans. Dr. Berdie Cowser co-created Boudicca House, Wisconsin's only transitional housing for women veterans and women veterans with children.
"I have seen hundreds of veterans' lives change for the better," Cowser said.
Cowser's journey of helping and serving others began when she was a teenager.
"As soon as I turned 17 years old, I enlisted, I signed the paper," Cowser said.
She served her country for more than a decade in the Army Reserves, retiring as a Captain. She also worked at the Center for Veterans Issues in Milwaukee, where she tackled initiatives in suicide prevention and mental health. Her main goal, however, was to help homeless women veterans.
Watch: WCTC professor honored for creating Wisconsin's only transitional house for women veterans
While working with veterans, Cowser saw a problem — women veterans needed their own space to feel safe while dealing with issues surrounding homelessness.
"They didn't feel seen, they didn't feel heard. They didn't even think sometimes that they were veterans," Cowser said.
Cowser found that many women veterans had experienced trauma while serving their country. According to Department of Defense statistics, nearly 8 percent of women are sexually abused while on active duty.
"They had issues with in the military, military sexual trauma," Cowser said. "Listening to those stories did something to me.”
At the time, Milwaukee-area veterans experiencing homelessness could get housing at Vet's Place, but men and women were housed in the same building. That is why Cowser helped create Boudicca House.
"They needed their own space, they needed a place where they didn't have to wonder," Cowser said.
Boudicca House opened in 2011. According to the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, it is the only transitional housing for women veterans and women veterans with children in the state.
More than a decade after co-creating Boudicca House, Cowser has been honored for her work this fall by the Governor. She has also recently focused on a new mission — preparing the next generation of leaders as an Associate Professor at Waukesha County Technical College.
"I always talk to my students about making sure they are leaders that their subordinates want to come to and talk to," Cowser said. “Being the change you want to see.”
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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