Friends,

When a servicemember returns home, our responsibility to them doesn’t end – it deepens. This includes addressing one of the most urgent challenges facing our veteran community: mental health and suicide prevention.

You may remember in 2019, I worked with Senator John Boozman to create the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program – a bipartisan program that provides essential funding for mental health outreach in veteran communities. Since then, this program has delivered more than $150 million nationwide –including over $4.5 million just last year to organizations working in Virginia – directly supporting groups doing the critical work of suicide prevention and outreach.

That’s why I’ve introduced legislation to reauthorize this program. We can’t afford to let this essential support lapse. You can watch my full remarks about this effort here.

Many of our veterans still struggle to access care. Of the 17 veterans we lose to suicide each day, 10 have had no recent contact with the VA. That’s unacceptable,and we need to do everything we can – including reauthorizing this program – to ensure there are more ways for veterans in crisis to access life-saving care.

Right now, the VA is accepting applications for grant funding through the Fox Program. Applications are open until July 18. If you’re part of a Veterans Service Organization (VSO), community group, or mental health provider offering services to veterans, I encourage you to submit your application here.

These grants are helping save lives by connecting veterans to care, providing crisis response, and making sure those who need help know where to turn. I’m proud to support this work, and I’ll keep pushing these efforts until every veteran has the mental health resources they deserve.

If you ever want to share your thoughts about an issue that’s important to you, you can send me an email anytime using the form on my Senate website. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, YouTube, or Bluesky. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,