[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We're now joined by Terrell Washington, United States Army Veteran and a board member at an organization called Backpacks for Life.

We'll put up the website.

Sergeant, good to have you with us.

- Good to see you too, Steve.

- Before we talk about Backpacks for Life, tell us the moment you decided to join, sign up to serve in the United States Army, please.

- I was a sophomore in high school.

Henry Snyder High School here in Jersey City, New Jersey.

I actually, we were inside the classroom on the third floor watching on TV one of the towers burn and then the second tower got hit while we watched live from our classroom.

Right there I knew that I was gonna join the military.

- So on 9/11 - Yes.

- You're there, you see this happening and you decided you're gonna join the military because?

- Because I seen it and it did something.

Me seeing the towers be attacked, it did something to me.

I see how everybody was in disarray and while everybody wanted to go to college and other people didn't have plans, right there as being a sophomore in high school, I wanted to do something for my country.

I wanted to defend and honor my country.

So that's when I decided to go.

- You served in Iraq?

- Yes.

- Thank you for your service.

Thank you for, and again, we're doing a series that it's simply called "Honoring our Veterans."

Put up the website team, "Honoring our Veterans."

It is not a one-off program.

It is an ongoing initiative that honors our veterans and the work they're doing.

Like Sergeant Washington.

Tell us about Backpacks for Life.

- Backpacks for Life is a nonprofit organization ran by Brett and Alexa D'Alessandro.

I bumped into them during a military event and they actually, I started working with them and then a year later they had a meeting to bring me on as a board member, board of directors for the organization.

We help veterans that are homeless, at risk of being homeless that deal with substance abuse problems.

Basically, if you're a veteran, you are not forgotten by our standards.

We know that there's a lot of red tape from state and city like City Hall and things of that nature.

We don't care if it's two in the morning or two in the afternoon.

We are coming to you, we're gonna help you get services.

We're gonna put you up in a hotel, get you food.

Basically we take you from feeling like you don't wanna be here to, you should be here.

You need to be here.

'cause a lot of our veterans are forgotten about.

- Sergeant, let me ask you this.

The transition from military life to civilian life is challenging, I'm sure on so many levels.

Just share with us a little bit about why it's so challenging and what's so challenging.

- While while you're in the military, they teach you how to be a soldier, but when you get out, they don't teach you how to reintegrate yourself back into society.

It's like they just give you your papers, they kick you out and then you have to find your way.

That's how a lot of veterans, they succumb to the bottle or substance abuse or worst case scenario, self transitioning.

And when you get out there, there's really no guide on telling you, Hey, this is your next step.

This is what you do.

It's like we serve the people and then when we get out, the people don't serve us.

And there's a disconnect between the military and civilian life and that's what needs to be fixed.

- You also work in the municipal government in Jersey City and Veteran Affairs?

- Yes sir.

- Talk about that.

- So there we identify the veterans in Hudson County, Jersey City, New Jersey.

We find out what they need.

We have on the website, we have a form that they fill out whether they need food, clothing, educational benefits, if they need a job, things of that nature.

So what we'll do is we'll screen them and then we'll help them out from there.

And we try to give them the best help possible that they can get.

But we make it personal.

We actually have them come into the office, we meet with them, we talk with them, we sit and we talk to them person to person and not just over the phone or through a laptop.

- Sergeant, for you, when you are helping a fellow veteran deal with the many challenges they're facing as they leave the military, how much of that is in fact personal for you?

- It's very personal.

While serving in Kuwait and Baghdad, Iraq, I lost people that were close to me, family that while I was abroad, they were home, I lost.

And also soldiers, veterans, DOD, everyone.

So we're trying to abstain from losing anyone else.

So when I see a veteran male, veteran female, veteran older, younger, when I see that they're in need, I drop everything because that's my mission and that's how I get my blessings.

I don't need to be compensated for it.

It's because I actually went through personal demons of my own.

So for me to come out of it, it's like, how dare me not help a fellow veteran get through theirs as well.

- It wasn't easy for you?

- Negative.

- What'd you face?

- I faced at times not being able to talk to anyone because my family and my friends couldn't relate.

And I was lucky enough not to get into substance abuse, but I did have thoughts of depression and suicide, which I never took action for it.

But every veteran isn't lucky enough not to take action about it as in hurting themself by actually being successful with doing that.

- Wow.

What is a VetWorking?

VetWorking is an an LLC that I came up with at 2024 to help veterans, play on networking, obviously, to help veterans organize networking events, helping from veterans with businesses, opportunities and their benefits.

So I identify veterans through city hall and through the ones that I run into 'cause usually I have some type of military insignia on me whether my dog tag, military hat, a placard on my car.

So when I talk to these veterans, there's a big disconnect between older veterans and the younger veterans.

So what I like to do is get all the veterans inside of an area and then I have people from everywhere from Home Depot to places where they can work to a VSO, a veteran service officer from City Hall.

And I get all of these people in one room and they all give their stick.

They all tell what they do.

And when the veteran matches up with that, once we break, kind of like a football huddle, we all have our name tags on and you go to the appropriate area that you need help in because a lot of the younger veterans don't like dealing with the older, and a lot of older don't like dealing with the younger, but when we get 'em all in a room, we are all veterans.

So it doesn't matter where you serve and what you do.

So I serve people, but I serve veterans more so because I am one.

And that's my mission.

VetWorking, networking with veterans to get them to their next level so they're not forgotten.

- Thank you, Sergeant Washington.

- Thank you, Steve - Keep doing what you're doing.

We'll have you back.

All the best.

- Thank you, all the best of you as well.

- That's a terrific American, a veteran making a difference in the lives of so many of his colleagues, men and women who served our country part of our series "Honoring our Veterans", not just the rhetoric, but the reality of what our veterans are facing.

We honor them every day.

I'm Steve Adubato.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Valley Bank.

NJM Insurance Group.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

IBEW Local 102.

RWJBarnabas Health.

Let’s be healthy together.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

And by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Promotional support provided by NJBIA.

And by Insider NJ.

- (Narrator) For the last 125 years, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 102 has powered progress and built a brighter future.

As we celebrate this incredible milestone, we honor the dedication of our past, the strength of our present, and the promise of our future.

Together, we're stronger.

Together, we're Local 102.