Jacksonville, FL-November 14, 2022- Over 6,000 U.S. military veterans die by suicide each year. In 2019, the United States lost 6,261 veterans to suicide. Northeast Florida lost 78. In this region and across the county, the rate of veteran suicide is almost two times that of civilians.
The Northeast Florida Fire Watch Council was formed in October 2019 by Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties. Their mission is to lead regional efforts to end veteran suicide. Among the initiatives it has launched is a microgrant program intended to improve support and crisis resources available to veterans in those counties. Last year, its inaugural year, the “Veteran SP Grant” totaled $98,500, awarded to 10 local veteran-serving organizations. Award recipients included Operation Barnabas, FIVE Star Veteran Center, Community Health Outreach, and Northeast Florida Women Veterans.
“The Northeast Florida Fire Watch Council has partnered with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to review strengths and weaknesses in the suicide prevention resources available to veterans across all five counties,” said Executive Director Derek Collins. “We have teamed up with the State of Florida and data analytics firm NLP Logix to collect and analyze veteran suicides in our region. The Veteran SP Grant program will close identified gaps and improve the level of community support available to our highest-risk veterans.”
To launch its second year of the program, the Veteran SP Grant program opened applications on Friday, Veterans Day. All applications must be submitted by December 30, 2022. Grant awardees will be announced by January 31, 2023. The maximum grant awarded during this cycle will be $7,500.
For more information and application materials, please contact [email protected].
The Northeast Florida Fire Watch Council is a multi-jurisdictional government entity formed in October 2019 under Florida Statues 163 by Interlocal Agreement between Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties. It is governed by five voting members, each appointed by the respective Board of County Commissioners or City Council. Its charter is to lead regional efforts to reduce veteran suicide. For more information, please visit TheFireWatch.org.