Still Serving Veterans aims to combat veteran suicide crisis through involvement
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Still Serving Veterans (SSV) is an organization to serve and honor Veterans and their families by empowering them to build meaningful lives.
The way SSV believes veterans can do this is through connections to fulfilling careers, benefits, and services; and to proactively strengthen Veteran communities through leadership and collaboration.
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Ethan Fitzgerald, with SSV, said they want you to know they are with you every step of the way in your new journey. The ‘You Are Not Alone’ (YANA) campaign is focused on working within the local community and nationally to provide resources to our Veterans and Service Members focused on mental health.
Fitzgerald said their goal is to positively impact the suicide crisis facing our Nation’s Veterans and Service Members.
David Estacio, with SSV, told News 19 the American general population experiences death by suicide every 12 minutes equals 120 deaths a day. Our service members and Veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide as the general population.
All age groups of Veterans and Service Members have seen an increase in suicide rate since 2001. David Estacio, who is a Veteran himself, recommends ways to assist with a crisis. He said to get involved because not alone.
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The YANA Campaign is a locally-focused, nationally-reaching, effort to provide resources to both local and national organizations that provide mental health services and support to our Veterans and Service Members.
In less than five short weeks a team from four companies and the Huntsville Chamber Of Commerce coordinated and executed the first YANA events. Supporting organizations included: BlueHalo, Torch, Sentar, Paragon and the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce.
On September 6 at the Trash Pandas Game, you can come to connect with Veterans or learn more about Still Serving Veterans. There will also be fireworks and a concert after the game. For more information visit https://ssv.org/events.
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