- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Here when you need us most, now and always.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Making a difference.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Keep getting better.

TD Bank.

NJM Insurance Group.

Serving New Jersey'’s drivers, homeowners and business owners for more than 100 years.

Veolia, resourcing the world.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

And by New Jersey Sharing Network.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey Globe.

And by CIANJ, and Commerce Magazine.

- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change presidents in this country is by voting.

- I'’m hopeful that this is the beginning to accountability.

- Life without dance is boring.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I did do the finale, and guess where my trailer was?

A block away from my apartment, it couldn'’t have been better!

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

-_ It'’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it'’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Steve Adubato.

We're honored to welcome once again, back by popular demand, Julienne Cherry who is Executive Director of Summit Health Cares.

It's good to see you, Julienne.

- Thank you, Steve.

Thank you for having me back.

- It's great.

Now I see the logo.

Everybody sees the logo on your shirt, but tell everyone what it is.

- Summit Health Cares, we're actually founded as Summit Medical Group Foundation in 2013.

So last year we changed our name to Summit Health Cares because of course, Summit Medical Group changed their name.

So we have our new name and our new logo.

- Love it.

Now, the Food, Health, Hope Program, what is it?

- Yes, the Food, Health and Hope Program it's a partnership with the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.

We're gonna be going into our fifth year.

It started off as a three-year pilot.

We're gonna be completing our fourth year.

And it is the Community Food Bank of New Jersey providing diabetic-friendly food boxes and produce and nutrition education and on the Summit Health Cares.

And we're providing access to chronic disease screenings such as A1C, looking at the biometrics and hypertension.

We also provide access to education Health education.

- Real quick.

I'm sorry for interrupting.

Diabetes is a major healthcare issue because... - It is because in the state of New Jersey, 9% of the population has diabetes.

That's roughly over 600,000 people in the state of New Jersey.

- And the health risks associated with diabetes include.

It's the silent killer.

A lot of people are, especially during COVID, they were diagnosed with diabetes.

Of course, if you're increased with your BMI, now you'll be potentially- - Body mass index.

- Yep - Yep.

I had mine checked the other day, it's not a good number, but go ahead.

- But that impacts your sugar.

So of course that's something that we always wanna make sure that we're also doing some prevention, walking, exercising to making sure that our sugar levels are down.

- Do this for us.

And also let me say that Summit Health is one of our healthcare supporters and the reason I raise that was not only to disclose but also money matters, dollars matter.

The initiative that we just talked about, food, health and hope, is the funding from it private, government, where do the dollars come from?

- We actually apply for grants.

We get dollars from Summit Health.

We get grants.

- You have to seek those grants.

- Yeah, we seek grants.

Donations.

- Yeah, I often hear the expression, no money, no mission, which is very true.

Talk to us about this initiative the Fresh Start Period Initiative is tied to this issue.

Talk about it.

- Yeah, it's tied to our period poverty initiative and we call it our Fresh Start Initiative.

It was started by two physicians at Summit Health, Dr. Masterson and Dr. Dardanello several years ago.

When I came on board last year we turned that initiative into a full fledged 12 month program.

What we know is that women get their menstruation every month, and we know that babies need diapers every day.

One in eight women in the state of New Jersey do not have access to a maxi pad, one in four teens don't have access to a clean maxi pad, and one in five working individuals reported missing time away from work.

- Okay, let's talk about the long term impact on the young woman's health moving forward.

- Absolutely.

So they're not able to go to school, not able to go to work, not able to be productive citizens in society.

This is such a solvable solution.

I tell people, listen, at the end of today we can advocate, there's strength in numbers, there's the voice in that number, our legislators, they're gonna be putting out bills that will ensure that there are maxi pads and tampons in schools.

So what our community can do is advocate and call your local legislators to ensure that those bills pass.

- Yeah, by the way, I think it's Senator Teresa Ruiz who's involved in one of those initiatives.

We'll have the Senator on to talk, not only about our issues around childcare, education, she's a former chair of the education committee, but also this issue as well.

Let me follow up on this real quick, Julienne.

Do you think that one of the major reasons why we have not made the progress we should be making around menstrual health equity is because it's difficult to talk about?

- Steve, you bring up- - For some of us.

It is.

I shouldn't say.

We have a young daughter and I've not had this conversation with her.

- Yeah.

And that's what I've been saying for years I've been fighting period poverty since 2017.

I make the uncomfortable conversation very comfortable.

Listen, my 10 year old son, he knows the stats about period poverty.

He knows how- - Your 10 year old son?

- My 10 year old son knows about period poverty.

He helps us pack little...

I bring boxes of maxi pads home, and between my husband and my son they're repacking these maxi pads in smaller ziploc bags and pack bags, so we could do a distribution out in the community.

- So let me ask you this.

And you mentioned the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, and we have Carlos Rodriguez, who is the CEO.

We're gonna have Carlos because we're doing a whole range of public awareness around food insecurity issues, hunger related issues.

Let me ask you this, go back to the period poverty issue you talked about.

I believe you're saying that the rest of us should put, not pressure on, but advocate to state legislators, but what else can we do as individuals, particularly dads?

- Yeah, you could do drives.

There's a simple thing as a collection drive is coincidentally while I was...

I used to work at the Community Food Bank in New Jersey for 10 years.

And I started the period initiative at the food bank.

- Really?

- I did.

I did.

In 2017, I did.

So what we could do is you could do a collection drive.

It's as simple as a donation of $25 covers the cost of maxi pads for a menstruating individual for a calendar year.

What's the website we should put up?

- It's www.sh-cares.org.

And you can- - And they can contribute to.

And where's that?

So we are clear, we're public television, so where does that money go?

- That goes to Summit Health Cares, and then we leverage our buying power and we purchase in bulk.

- And that will help these young women - Menstruating.

- Who are frankly not some of the- - Having access.

Yeah, not having access.

It's the simple thing of a donation of $25 covers the cost of a menstruating individual for an entire calendar year.

$25.

- Wow.

Hey Julienne, I wanna thank you for making a so-called uncomfortable topic not just comfortable, but more importantly relevant and important for everyone.

Julienne, thank you so much.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you so much, Steve, for having me back.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

♪ Well Ali Baba had them 40 thieves ♪ ♪ Scheherazade had a thousand tales ♪ ♪ But, master, you're in luck 'cause up your sleeve ♪ ♪ You got a brand of magic never fails ♪ ♪ You got some power in your corner now ♪ ♪ Said, heavy ammunition in your camp ♪ ♪ You got some punch, pizazz, yahoo, and how ♪ ♪ See all you gotta do is rub that lamp ♪ ♪ And I'll say ♪ ♪ Mr Aladdin, sir, what will your pleasure be ♪ ♪ Let me take your order, I'll jot it down ♪ ♪ You ain't never had a friend like me ♪ ♪ No, no, no, never had a friend like me ♪ (audience cheer) - You heard and saw him singing, and now he's right here, James Monroe Iglehart.

Tony award-winning actor and performer at NJPAC show.

Great American Songbook airing with our partners at NJ PBS in the spring.

Good to see you, James.

- Glad to be here, man.

How you doing?

- I'm doing great.

So, I say Aladdin, you say?

- Best experience of my life - Because?

- You know, a lot of people have dreams.

A lot of people hope to do things.

And my dream actually came true.

I was 17 years old, and my mom took me to see Aladdin when I was a kid.

And I leaned over after hearing "Friend Like Me" with the legendary Robin Williams.

And I said, "I wish someday to do something just like that."

And then in 2014, I was able to do that, I was able to originate my version of the genie on Broadway and sing that song.

And it just, it changed my life completely.

- You were the genie?

- Yes, I was the original.

There's a couple genies.

There's the original, which is Robin Williams.

And the first genie on Broadway is yours truly.

- You know, I can't even imagine.

When you say it changed your life, I can't even imagine how much or in what ways.

Give us a little glimpse of that.

- You know, it was crazy.

I will say this.

So there was a young man who worked for Disney, I am missing his name right now and I feel really bad about that.

We were outside underneath the marquee.

And it was right before we got into rehearsals, tech rehearsals into Aladdin.

And he looks at me and he says, "Are you enjoying this?"

And I said, yeah.

And he was like, "No, no.

"I mean, standing under this marquee."

And I was like, yeah.

And he was like, "Get used to this."

I was like, why?

He goes, "'Cause this will never happen again.

There will never be a time where you will stand under this marquee "and no one will know who you are.

"Right now people are just walking past, "they have no idea."

He goes, "After we open, "when you stand under this marquee, "this quiet that you feel will never happen again."

And it never has.

Whenever I've gone to the New Amsterdam Theater to see my friends, or to see Aladdin again, 'cause the Disney theatrical office's up there.

whenever I've walked under that marquee, someone has recognized me.

It has changed my life completely.

I also, I make a joke that before Aladdin everybody mispronounced my name.

After Aladdin, about 80% of people can actually figure out how to say it now.

It's that great thing, like, you know, spending 40 years of your life going, "No it's Iglehart.

It's Iglehart."

And they go, "Oh yeah, Igglehart."

And then after Aladdin they're like, "Hey, that's Iglehart."

I'm like, "Damn, everybody know my name now."

- That's Iglehart, the genie.

But hold on, wait a minute.

But then, we'll go back to the Great American Songbook in a second.

But then you do Hamilton.

- Yeah, I do.

- What, that other little show?

- That other little show.

The great thing about, the funny thing about it is, most people don't know, is that I've been a part, I was a part of Hamilton from the very beginning.

I literally started Hamilton and Aladdin around the same time.

I've been a part of a group called Freestyle Love Supreme, which Tommy Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale created, which is a hip hop improvisational group.

I'm a part of that group.

And while he was, while Lin was working on In The Heights, he told us about this new project called Hamilton.

So I was there from the very beginning, and I was at the first Lincoln Center concert playing Mulligan, the first person to play Mulligan in public.

I was that guy.

And then I had a chance to either go with Hamilton for it's, like, they were doing some readings, or go with this Aladdin thing.

And I chose the Aladdin thing.

I said, "Well, let me see where this goes."

And they were like, "We totally understand man, do your thing."

And I went off.

And never in a million years did I think I'd be able to come back to the Hamilton family.

But I got a call and I was like, well, it is time.

And I got to go back to that show as it was the Juggernaut that it was.

And it was a lot of fun to be back with the family.

- Let me ask you this, you talk about your role and the extraordinary work that you did in Aladdin and then Hamilton.

And then we're talking about the NJPAC series.

This is at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Great American Songbook.

A part of NJ PBS, the great public television station in New Jersey.

I'm curious about this.

You're a kid growing up where?

- I'm a kid growing up in Hayward, California.

which is in the San Francisco Bay area.

- Okay, I heard a rumor that PBS was part of your world, and potentially it was The Electric Company?

- Oh, yes.

Between The Electric Company and Great Performances.

I was stuck on PBS.

- You were a PBS kid?

- I was a PBS kid.

I was that kid who was watching PBS.

It was everything from Sesame Street, to The Electric Company, to the Bloodhound Gang, to just anything that came on to Discovery.

You know, all the animal shows that came on.

I was on PBS 'cause I liked just having, what my wife likes to call, useless information in my head.

And I just, PBS had it.

Don't get me wrong.

- Hold on one second.

- No, no.

You know that person who you're sitting, you know, before Google, there was PBS.

You know that person when you're sitting at the table, and someone asks a stupid question, and they happen to know the answer.

I know it because I was watching PBS.

So, I loved it - Important stuff.

- It was very important stuff, because I'm the, I was the... Look, how about this?

I was the brother with the ladies who never didn't have something to talk about.

So PBS saved my life.

- I love that.

- It was just great to be able to watch these different things.

And when Electric Company came on, Sesame Street was one thing, but Electric Company was cool.

I mean, don't get me wrong, Sesame Street was cool.

But it was, you know, you learned your ABCs, but there was another level of cool - Who starred in Electric Company?

- Oh my gosh, Rita Moreno, and of course Morgan Freeman.

- So Morgan Freeman is the great Morgan Freeman.

But Rita Moreno, together, okay, I'm sorry.

- Nobody knew.

Nobody knew what they were looking at the time.

- Yeah, right, exactly.

Hey, listen, the Great American Songbook.

Put that in perspective for us, why does it matter so much?

As a Sinatra, growing up in my house, I said this on another show, it was opera on Saturdays, then Sinatra or vice versa back and forth.

But it was always Sinatra.

Great American Songbook, he's part of it.

Why does it matter?

- It matters because the Great American Songbook, as a term, has always been used for one style or a certain styles of music.

The Great American Songbook, if you're really talking about it, you're talking about all the music that was created in America.

And that includes Frank Sinatra.

But that also includes Stevie Wonder.

That also includes Barry White.

That includes Parliament-Funkadelic.

That includes The Time, Prince, Michael Jackson, musicals.

That includes hip hop, Run-DMC, Kurtis Blow, LL Cool J.

All the way to even N.W.A.

The American Songbook, the music that was created in this country is involved in that songbook.

And I'm so glad I get to be a part of it, because the American Songbook that I saw when I would watch PBS was the great musicals of the time.

Whether they were Rodgers and Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein, whether it was Steven Sondheim.

But we never really got into the things that I was listening to when I saw the American Songbook.

So when I got a chance, I wanted to put that in there.

And that was the Barry Whites.

That was the Morris Day and The Times.

That was the Hamilton musicals, the Disney stuff, and the hip hop that I grew up with.

So it's important because, if you're going to talk about that term American Songbook, we have to talk about all of it.

Which is jazz, R&B, funk, hip hop, all of this stuff.

Rock, everything.

- And now you're on PBS.

- Yes.

- See, now you're on NJ PBS.

You watched it as a kid out in California, now you're on the greatest public television station around.

Including our friends, WNET in New York.

But NJ PBS.

How great is that?

- It's fantastic.

It's also a dream come true.

And the great thing is, I've been honored to be a part of PBS before, when I was a part of the Tony award-winning musical Memphis, we were part of Great Performances.

I was also a part of the brand new cast of the Electric Company, and I got to sing a song called "Silent E".

So to be a part of PBS again, and this time with the American Songbook, I feel nothing but blessings.

And I feel like it's a wonder...

When they say that wishes can come true, I do mean that, you know.

My show has a song and it was like, "A dream is a wish your heart makes."

And this was that dream.

To be able to do this, to be able to perform for a living and be at this level.

And, you know, to be on NJ PBS is fantastic.

- You know, I heard, I gotta let you go, but I heard that as a genie, one of your top wishes was, "I really wish Steve Adubato "would bring me on and interview me."

Is that fake news or?

- No, no, not in the slightest.

Because, I mean, there are so- - You didn't even know who I was.

- Listen, listen.

It's not about knowing who you are, it's about knowing the power that a person can have.

It's about looking at a person and seeing the integrity just by the tie that they wear.

Steve, it's about being able to be on someone's show who gives the people what they want.

And you knew that they wanted American Songbook at NJPAC.

And you knew that the guy to give it to you was me.

So it was one of those, it was one of those moments that it had to happen.

You and I meeting was destined to happen.

And this moment was destined.

And these fans who are watching it now are not only going to enjoy my show, but seeing your shining face is going to make them turn this thing on again to watch you interview someone else.

This was meant to happen.

(Steve claps) - You've done this before.

(both laugh) - We are timeless.

- Look at the chemistry.

- We are timeless, sir.

This is a show.

PBS doesn't know it, this could be something.

It could be something.

- And my producer is telling me, "Steve, enough about you.

"We gotta go."

James Monroe Iglehart, Tony awarding-winning actor, performer at NJPAC.

Great American Songbook airing on NJ PBS.

Hey, cannot thank you enough, James.

You honor us by being with us.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you very much, honor to be here.

Thank you, man.

- You got it.

We'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We're now joined by Dr. Kathleen Neville, who is Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research at Seton Hall University College of Nursing.

Good to see you, Doctor.

- Good to see you again, it's nice to be here.

- Let me ask you, the biggest impact on nursing from this pandemic, as we tape this program, going into the summer of 2022?

- Okay, so the impact on COVID, both in nursing and nursing education, still remains to be very dramatic.

What we're seeing in the field, in nursing in general, is COVID created tremendous shortages.

So we still have shortages now.

During the stress of COVID, nurses became very fatigued.

They were exhausted.

We saw many, many nurses leaving the field.

And now as a result of that, we see many nurses who remained, both, you know, new nurses and those that remained, they're overworked and they're stressed.

So, you know, the climate is still one of overwork, and so that still remains.

- You know, Doctor, you've talked to our producers, and 'cause you've done a lot of research in the area of the opioid crisis, tell everyone what fentanyl is, and its connection to this crisis and opioid deaths.

- Okay, so we're seeing an escalation of opioid-related deaths, and it's predominantly due to the increase of illicit fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a drug that's been around, and it's a very effective pain medication used in cancer extensively.

But illicit fentanyl now, you need such a small component of it, it's enough to cause respiratory depression.

So nationwide, we're seeing such an escalation.

For instance, in our grants that we have at Seton Hall College of Nursing and the School of Health and Medical Sciences and the med school, we have two grants.

One just ended, and it's to train students to be able to prescribe medication-assisted treatment because of fentanyl and the illicit fentanyl.

And it's all over the streets and from what I've read, and when I go to conferences, most of the heroin on the streets, in New Jersey and nationwide, has fentanyl in it.

So it kills.

So when we started our grant, our first grant, we saw a mortality rate, the CDC, I think, when I was writing the first grant, cited a mortality rate of 48,000 annually in the United States.

Then in 2020, with COVID, it hopped up to, I think, 78,000.

Now last summer it was reported of over 100,000 deaths per year in the United States, predominantly due to illicit fentanyl in the opioids.

- Wow.

- It's actually, fentanyl is in all substances now.

- Let me ask you this, and shift gears dramatically to a really positive subject.

You won a Fulbright scholarship.

- Yes, yes, so- - First, it's such an impressive thing.

I'm not sure everyone knows what it is, tell everyone.

- Okay, so it actually was on my bucket list, and now I'm very proud to say I'm a Fulbrighter.

(Steve laughs) So the Fulbright is really- The Fulbright UK-US Commission is really an opportunity for a cultural exchange for teaching and research activities.

So what I will be doing, because I studied nurses' knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about caring for people with opioid use disorders in the United States, and basically what I found in several studies is that nurses are fearful of people with opioid use disorders.

There's a lot of stigma, and that's what our grant and our training of students is really working on.

But this, the opioid epidemic is now worldwide, and Scotland has a very high opioid mortality rate, - Wow.

- as well as the United States.

I think it's third in the world.

We're number one, Estonia is number two, and Scotland is number three.

So the Fulbright is really an opportunity to engage in research, but it's also a cultural exchange.

I hope to start a collaboration between the Edinburgh Napier University School of Nursing in Edinburgh and bring it back to Seton Hall.

And that will, there will be years of, you know, cultural exchange and learning, travel-learn.

So it's really a wonderful opportunity to represent United States.

It's almost like a culture, I'm not working for the US State Department, but it's really to serve as a cultural ambassador.

So it's really a big honor and I'm thrilled, I go in August.

- Well, congratulations, that's awesome.

- Thank you.

- Before I let you go, as a student of leadership, who's taught at the Buccino Leadership Institute at Seton Hall University, - Oh yeah, good.

- for the last several years, nurses as leaders, give me one minute or less.

Nurses are leaders.

- Nurses as leaders.

It's so important that, you know, nurses are front stage in nursing leadership.

At Seton Hall, many of our graduates are, they're now presidents of healthcare systems.

We have several in New Jersey.

So who better than nurses, to really be leaders in healthcare?

And it's just demonstrated.

Nurse leaders are at the bedside.

They're in corporations, they're in community health centers.

They're leading major, major healthcare centers, both in New Jersey and nationwide.

- Nurses are extraordinary, not just- - Thank you, we are.

- Yeah, and not just because the way they care for people, particularly in their most, and I've been on the other end of that, as a patient and as a family member of a patient, in our most vulnerable states.

But they're also, like you said, amazing leaders who just don't get enough credit.

Dr. Kathleen Neville is Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research at Seton Hall University, one of our higher ed partners, College of Nursing.

Good to see you, Doctor, thanks so much.

- Thank you, bye now.

- Steve Adubato, see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

TD Bank.

NJM Insurance Group.

Veolia.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

And by New Jersey Sharing Network.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey Globe.

And by CIANJ, and Commerce Magazine.

- Many of New Jersey'’s children have been affected by Covid-19, but now that there'’s a safe and effective vaccine available for children ages twelve and older you can help make COVID-19 history by getting yourself and your child vaccinated.

Let'’s end this pandemic together and help all children get back to being kids.

Visit HackensackMeridianHealth.org/ covid19 to learn more, or to schedule a vaccine appointment today.