VA joins Arkansas and Missouri’s faith-based communities to prevent Veteran suicide
PRESS RELEASE
September 19, 2023
Fayetteville , AR — To promote Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks and the Central Arkansas Veterans Health Care System are sponsoring the “Faith-Based Community Convening for the Support of Service Members, Veterans, and their Families.”
The goal of this in-person and virtual event is to better equip and share resources to spiritual and faith-based community leaders in Arkansas and Southern Missouri with information about the warning signs of suicide, suicide prevention, and comprehensive Veteran healthcare.
WHEN: Tuesday, September 26, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
WHERE: UA Global Campus Facility
University of Arkansas Global Campus
704 SE 5th Street, Bentonville, AR 72712
BACKGROUND:
The goal of this in-person and virtual event is to better equip and share resources to spiritual and faith-based community leaders in Arkansas and Southern Missouri with information about the warning signs of suicide, suicide prevention, and comprehensive Veteran healthcare. When having a mental health crisis, many individuals will often seek help from their spiritual or faith-based leader instead of talking to a doctor or therapist.
During this day-long event, experts from the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks and the Central Arkansas Veterans Health Care System will give presentations on the following topics:
- Suicide awareness training
- Handing crisis situations
- Intimate partner violence
- Moral injury
- VA homeless programs
- VA mental health care
- VA substance abuse and addiction treatment programs
- Food pantry services
- VA health care eligibility
- VA Home Based Primary Care
- PACT Act benefits
Contact the Veterans Crisis Line to receive free, confidential support and crisis intervention available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat. To learn more about suicide prevention, visit: www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention/.
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