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AUGUSTA — The Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services has received a $750,000 grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs as part of its continuing mission of preventing veteran suicide by working with community organizations across the country.
Through the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant, MBVS support local veterans by providing positive connections to clinical and benefits resources for veterans who are seeking care through medical providers in Maine. In short, the money will help provide a warm handoff of the veteran from a medical provider to clinical outpatient support resources as well as assistance from Bureau staff in accessing other federal and state veterans’ benefits.
“The bureau is very pleased to receive this grant,” said MBVS Director David Richmond. “It will allow us to make direct and more effective connections for veterans in need of mental health resources and care in our state and it will also allow our Bureau to help veterans access all of the benefits they have earned through their service. We are fortunate to have a team of dedicated partners made up of state and federal agencies, non-profit and veterans service organizations, all working hard to end veterans’ suicide—everyone of us knows that this is mission number one and that we must find a way to succeed.”
The grant program is a pilot that will provide financial assistance to eligible community organizations to provide or coordinate suicide prevention services to eligible veterans and their families. The grantee organizations have been awarded one-year renewable funding.
MBVS is the state’s advocate for veterans and their families and has specially trained veterans services officers on staff to assist with connection to state and federal benefits. For more information, visit maine.gov/veterans.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, contact the Veterans Crisis Line for free confidential support and crisis intervention available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Dial 988 then press 1, chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat, or text 838255.
