RED BANK — Military veterans transitioning back into civilian life and the workforce are often in need of support services, including a wardrobe suitable for the workplace.
Dress Our Vets, a new campaign from the Suiting Warriors Foundation, has been launched in an effort to meet this need and gather local support.
“Transitioning back into civilian life is not an easy task for these veterans, and this campaign is about making that process easier for them,” said Star Lotta, founder and CEO of Suiting Warriors.
The Delaware-based nonprofit connects honorably discharged veterans and their families with additional tools as they transition into the civilian workforce, partnering with grassroots nonprofits, government agencies, and national and local veterans’ service organizations.
The foundation’s Dress Our Vets initiative is aimed at providing veterans with new or like-new professional attire essential for competing in today’s job market.
In honor of Women’s History Month, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) recently announced their participation in the Dress Our Vets campaign.
“It’s important to make sure that our female heroes from the armed forces can successfully transition back into civilian life,” Beck said at a March 3 press conference in Trenton.
“The Dress Our Vets initiative from the Suiting Warriors Foundation is just one way that we can make sure our veterans are still taken care of once they return from their years of service.”
As part of this initiative, donations of clean, dry-cleaned or gently used women’s suits, work pants, blazers, professional skirts, blouses, dresses or other professional attire can be brought to any of the participating legislators’ offices.
“By providing our women veterans with business-appropriate clothing at a crucial transition point in their lives, we will be helping a new generation of women leaders make history themselves,” Guadagno said in a press release.
Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini (RMonmouth) has designated her office as a drop-off site for Dress Our Vets.
“I’m thrilled to be involved in helping women veterans feel their best so they’re ready to face the professional field with their best foot forward,” she said in a recent press release.
Lotta said one of the reasons she founded Suiting Warriors was because she felt the needs of veterans returning to civilian life weren’t being met.
“I had a cousin who separated from the military, and seeing him try to work his way back into a normal life was the hardest thing,” she said.
When her cousin passed away six months after his separation from the military, Lotta said she learned just how tough life was for these men and women.
“A few of his army buddies attended the funeral, and I started wondering why they weren’t in their military dress blues,” she said.
It wasn’t until after talking with them about their financial struggles following discharge that she learned most of them didn’t even own a pair of dress blues or even a suit.
“This came as a shock to me,” Lotta said. “I knew every branch had a different process … but I thought that they would’ve at least been given dress blues if nothing else.
“It is such a very difficult situation when these men and women return home, and this campaign is about coming together as a community and showing them the honor and respect they deserve and helping them feel better about themselves.”
Suiting Warriors has suited approximately 600 veterans over the past year in states such as Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, New York and Washington, D.C.
While the Dress Our Vets campaign mainly focuses on supporting women veterans, Lotta said male professional attire will also be accepted, and all clothing collected will be distributed and tailored by the foundation.
“Nice, clean clothing makes people feel good about themselves, and providing these men and women with [this attire] will give them the proper tools they need to succeed as they explore new opportunities,” she said.
Beck’s legislative office is located on the third floor at 32 Monmouth St., Red Bank. Angelini’s office is located in Cobblestone Village, 893 West Park Ave., Ocean Township.
A list of locations to drop off donations is available at www.nj.gov/state/pdf/2015- dress-our-vets.pdf.