WASHINGTON — Today, in the midst of the National Suicide Prevention Month, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced $4,549,848 in federal funding for suicide prevention efforts targeted towards Virginia’s veterans. The funding, courtesy of the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, will support community-based prevention efforts to meet the needs of veterans and their families through outreach, prevention services, and connection to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and community resources.

The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program was created through the Warner-sponsored IMPROVE Wellbeing for Veterans Act, legislation introduced in 2019 to improve coordination of veteran mental health and suicide prevention services and to better measure the effectiveness of these programs in order to reduce the alarming number of veteran suicides. The legislation was signed into law as part of the broader Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, which was passed unanimously in the Senate in August 2020.

“Too many veterans are silently suffering with their mental health when their tours of duty conclude. That’s why it is our duty to make sure that servicemembers, who sacrificed so much for our freedom and security, have the support and resources they deserve when they are struggling,” said Sen. Warner. “I was proud to help write the legislation that made this funding possible, and I am thrilled that Virginia’s veterans will receive more support as we continue to tackle the alarming rate of veteran suicide.”

“Our veterans have made great sacrifices for our nation, and we owe it to them to provide them with the best support possible, including mental health resources,” said Sen. Kaine. “I’m proud this funding, made possible by legislation I helped pass, will expand community-based suicide prevention efforts for veterans across Virginia.”

This funding is broken down as follows:

• Volunteers of America Chesapeake will receive $750,000 in funding and will serve the cities of Alexandria, Bristol, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Norton, and Winchester as well as Arlington, Buchanan, Caroline, Clarke, Culpeper, Cumberland, Dickenson, Essex, Fauquier, Frederick, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lee, Loudoun, Page, Prince William, Rockingham, Russell, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Tazewell, Warren, Washington, and Wise counties.
• Western Tidewater Community Services Board will receive $613,910 in funding and will serve Accomack, Essex, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, King and Queen, King William, Middlesex, Northampton, and Southampton counties, Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg.
• Boulder Crest Foundation will receive $725,000 in funding and will operate in Arizona and Virginia, serving Clarke, Frederick, and Loudoun counties in Virginia.
• Modern Military Association of America, Inc. will receive $669,800 in funding and will operate in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, serving Alexandria, as well as Fairfax and Arlington counties in Virginia.
• EveryMind will receive $541,138 in funding and will operate in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, serving Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William counties and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park in Virginia.
• United States Veterans Initiative will receive $400,000 in funding and will operate in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, serving Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford and Warren counties in Virginia.
• Community Building Art Works will receive $100,000 in funding and will operate in Washington, D.C., Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia, serving all counties in Virginia.
• Blue Star Families Inc. will receive $750,000 in funding and will operate nationally, including serving Virginia veterans.

Sens. Warner and Kaine have long been strong advocates for improving mental health care for Virginia’s veterans. In addition to seeing through the signing of his legislation to expand veterans’ access to mental health services and reduce the alarming rate of veteran suicide, Sen. Warner has also previously met with senior leadership at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center and Hampton VA Medical Center to discuss suicide prevention efforts and other issues affecting the local veteran community. Last year, Sen. Kaine cosponsored the Not Just a Number Act, bipartisan legislation that would help the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs better prevent veteran suicide.

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