CHICAGO (WLS) — Greg Sanchez was 19 when he signed up for boot camp at the Naval Station Great Lakes.

Despite his passion for serving his country, Sanchez found the adjustment to civilian life challenging. This experience has driven him to assist fellow veterans in navigating their own transitions.

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“My dad grew up very impoverished. He left Mexico at 14 years old,” Sanchez said. “To him, it was just a matter of having a better life.”

As a Navy veteran and the son of an immigrant, Sanchez is dedicated to helping other veterans achieve the improved life they strive for.

“In the military, you deploy together, you train together, you eat next to each other,” Sanchez said.

But his time after service wasn’t easy.

“A good decade after I left military service, I was I lost a camaraderie. I didn’t have the kinship, and so I ended up in a tough spot where I leaned on substance,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez says two deployments after 9/11, he spiraled, ending up in veterans treatment court, a specialized county court built on policies designed to help veterans who have been arrested.

“It really was an occurrence that saved my life,” Sanchez said. “That’s where I found my passion for higher education and also for advocacy to help other veterans who are struggling.”

Now, he is the assistant director for the Office for Military-Affiliated Communities at the University of Chicago. It is an academic program that helps veterans find tailored connection and opportunity.

“Being in the military was an opportunity to pay it forward for a country that gave my parents and my family such a wonderful opportunity,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez leads the university’s restorative justice work, working with veterans who have committed crimes, usually stemming from unaddressed military-related trauma.

A 2023 study published by the National Library of Medicine surveyed nearly 2,500 veterans. It found that 38% suffered from a common mental health disorder, including but not limited to depression, alcohol misuse and anxiety.

“It’s important for us to understand, you know, take the time to hit pause on life and think from the perspective of the other,” Sanchez said.

With more than 450 military-affiliated students on campus, that is the model he works to establish. Once a veteran facing the justice system, he is now the visionary honored as the 2025 Illinois veteran of the year.

“We can’t receive unless we give service first,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez says he works with those 450 student veterans as a mentor and advocates to help them complete their degrees on campus.