The past few months have involved collaborations between our community partner, Veterans Recovery Resource, and several broader initiatives focused on Veterans issues as well as suicide. First, we have been engaged with the South Alabama Veterans Council - a committee of individuals and Veteran Service Organizations in the region – attending monthly meetings and disseminating information regarding the project in a monthly newsletter. Individuals on the Veterans Council are active on our CAT and the Council itself have been supportive of the project and arranged opportunities for us to speak at several meetings. Most recently, we participated in a meeting with individuals involved in the Suicide Prevention Network of Alabama, with an emphasis on suicide in South Alabama. The goal of this network is to close the gap between mental health professional, law enforcement, community members, and the general public about suicide and mental health awareness. We are intrigued about where our collaboration with this network will go and see a lot of useful overlap with the priorities of our Community Action Team.
- Nick Fadoir, Research Assistant