by Linda l. Esterson, photography by Nikola Tzenov
Terry “TJ” Johnson was in a dark place. The only solace the Vietnam veteran could find was in taking long walks. One day a few years ago, he passed the Carroll County Veterans Independence Project (VIP) office on Carroll Street in Westminster and, on a whim, stepped inside.
“It was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life,” says the former member of the Navy’s 7th Fleet, 77th Squadron, who found support and guidance at VIP. “Nothing was going right in my life… and this place saved me.”
Johnson served during the Vietnam conflict, and he says not a day went by that he didn’t think about the awful sights and sounds of the war. Although he wasn’t physically injured during his service, he returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“All of those years, I lived in silence,” he says of the nearly six decades since. “I didn’t tell my wife. I didn’t tell my brothers. I lived with it because I’ve never asked anybody for anything in my life, and I thought I was tough enough to handle it. But guess what? I found out I wasn’t.”
When Johnson arrived at VIP, he met with a counselor and was connected with a physician. He started medication and visited the office often for counseling. He gained coping skills and gradually felt validated and accepted. “They gave me a will to live,” he says. If Johnson has a bad day, he talks through his feelings with staff members.
Today, the grateful veteran gives back, spending more than 20 hours each week volunteering in any way he can. He answers phones, cleans the office and speaks with other veterans. He refuses to take payment for his services, choosing instead to help other veterans and treat them with the same respect he has received.
“I would do anything for VIP because they made me the man I always wanted to be but couldn’t [be],” he says. “They taught me to live again. For that, I’ll never be able to thank them enough.”
Serving Those Who Served
The VIP was formed in 2017 to help county veterans and their family members access essential services. Today, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization also serves veterans outside of Carroll County, including many out of state, with discussions underway to officially expand to other counties. It is a community hub offering case management and advocacy for veterans in partnership with federal, state and local agencies, as well as other organizations.
Four full-time and three part-time staff members serve the organization, with compensation funded by grants. Services include education and career planning, physical and mental health services, assistance with housing, transportation and navigation of the veterans’ medical and benefits system.
“We use the vast set of partners that we have in the community to provide whatever is needed,” explains Jason Sidock, the organization’s executive director. “The difference [from other veteran service organizations] is we start long-term case management on you, and that’s a key factor because not everyone does long-term case management.
If you come in and your need is getting hearing aids, they help you with hearing aids and check the box. Our job has to be to not just get you hearing aids, but we look at the total picture and figure out how we can make your life better.”
Expansion Plans
VIP operates with the idea that “the need drives the mission,” Sidock explains. As a result, the organization has seen significant growth in the number of veterans seeking services. In 2026,
more than 1,000 veterans will have received services, up from about 100 in 2021.
To accommodate the growing need, VIP renovated its leased space on Carroll Street in Westminster, including doubling its conference room size. Many of its programs, including Vet Talk, a monthly meeting that welcomes veterans to dine, share and gain support from others, are held outside the facility to accommodate larger crowds. Vet Talk meets at the Masonic Lodge in Westminster, but that space will soon be outgrown as well, Sidock notes.
In January, U.S. Rep. Johnny Olszewski announced a $1 million grant allocation to VIP to support the construction of a new space called the Freedom Center. The project was advanced in mid-August, when the Carroll County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously not only to support it but also to allow county staff to assist.
The Freedom Center will be located on 46 acres of county surplus property off of Center Street, across from Winters Mill High School, in Westminster. The property can be transferred to ARC, a legally designated recipient organization, which would initially serve as a partner with VIP on the project.
During the mid-August hearing, the two organizations were directed to collaborate on creating a briefing paper, obtaining an appraisal of the property, holding a meeting for public comment and orchestrating the eventual transfer of the property to VIP.
“There are many different ways of outreach, but one way is to just invite people to a nice meeting where they can express themselves, [share] when they were in the service, where they served, what they thought about their service [and] what are their needs now. — Vince Perticone, VIP Chaplin
According to Sidock, the Freedom Center will comprise 30,000 square feet and be constructed in the shape of a V, with one wing designated for event operations.
The project’s prospectus indicates the Freedom Center will operate as a self-supporting event venue with office space for the organization and service partners, meeting space and an integrated training and R&D facility offering veterans and their family members opportunities to develop new skills, explore career paths and build long-term independence.
A nondenominational chapel on the grounds will serve as a spiritual space for services, funerals and weddings. At the same time, the adjacent event facility, with a state-of-the-art kitchen, will accommodate up to 600 guests.
“We use the vast set of partners that we have in the community to provide whatever is needed.” — Jason Sidock, Executive Director, VIP
The campus will also include a one-mile walking path that will weave throughout the property, with memorials to veterans of recent conflicts. Initial architectural designs pay tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright’s principles, incorporating natural stone and expansive glass in both the main center and the chapel buildings.
Sidock anticipates assistance from foundations and businesses in funding or donating services for the $7 million project. A capital campaign is underway to raise additional funds.
According to Vince Perticone, VIP’s chaplain for the last six years, the new center will “be a collaborative system where we’ll have comprehensive services — mental health professionals, housing specialists, benefit advocates and partner organizations — all under one roof… We just want to pool resources together so that we can take people who are in the streets and put them in stable housing [and] provide immediate crisis intervention.”
Volunteer Support
Perticone, who provides spiritual guidance for veterans at the center, on the phone and by officiating services, originally learned about VIP’s Vet Talk from a cousin, a fellow Vietnam veteran.
“There are many different ways of outreach, but one way is to just invite people to a nice meeting where they can express themselves, [share] when they were in the service, where they served, what they thought about their service [and] what are their needs now,” he says.
Perticone says the organization aims to honor the service of military veterans by assuring them they’ll never be left behind. “They served their country to protect their freedom, but yet they’re having a tough battle right here at home in the United States and our home in Carroll County,” he notes. Perticone acknowledges that many face mental illness, are suicidal, live on the streets and are physically ill with cancer and other ailments.
“It’s really tough on them,” he continues. “Some don’t have jobs. Some are having red tape in getting their benefits that they rightfully earned through their sacrifice… We’re not going to let these people who sacrificed themselves for us be on their own. We’ve been working tirelessly to help these veterans before they fall down completely.”
