Staff Reports | Community Updates
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded more than $4 million in grants to seven Arizona organizations that provide suicide prevention services to veterans.
The funding is part of $112 million in grants awarded to 191 organizations nationwide to support suicide prevention efforts, according to a press release.
The VA awarded $4,070,884 through the Staff Sgt. Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program. The funds will become available at the start of fiscal year 2027.
The grant program is open to nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, federally recognized tribes and other community-based organizations that have demonstrated the capacity to serve veterans.
In addition to the Fox grant program, the VA continues several nationwide suicide prevention initiatives, including:
- Through Sept. 20 of fiscal year 2026, the Veterans Crisis Line answered more than 1.3 million calls, chats and texts from veterans seeking help, a •7.1% increase from the prior year. The service reported a veteran satisfaction rate of 97.3%.
- The first Trump administration launched the Risk ID program in 2018 to screen veterans for suicide risk and identify those needing additional care. •Through August 2026, the VA completed more than 5.5 million suicide risk screenings, roughly 100,000 more than in 2025.
- The VA continues to expand suicide prevention training for health care professionals within the VA and in community settings.
- The VA provides eligible veterans and certain former service members experiencing an acute suicidal crisis with emergency suicide prevention care through VA and non-VA facilities. Since 2023, nearly 50,000 veterans have used the benefit.
Suicide prevention remains the VA’s top clinical priority, and all VA health care facilities provide same-day emergency mental health care for veterans in need.
The agency said reaching veterans outside the VA health care system remains a challenge. In 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, 61% of veterans who died by suicide were not receiving VA health care during the final year of their lives.
Fox grants are intended to help address that gap by directing funding to community-based organizations that serve veterans.
“Community organizations play a vital role in strengthening the support network available to Arizona Veterans,” Elijah Ditter, medical center director for the Phoenix VA, said. “These grants provide Veterans with lifesaving support and ensure they have access to the care and resources they deserve right here in our community.”
