West Virginia’s Governor’s Challenge Team Wants More Hands. We Should Give Them Ours.
By Shawn Cosner | May 5, 2026 | Veteran News
Since 2020, West Virginia has fielded a team in the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans, and their Families, a nationwide initiative run by the VA and SAMHSA that brings state agencies, health systems, and community organizations to one table around a single goal.
The West Virginia team is co-led by the state Department of Veterans Assistance and the Bureau of Behavioral Health, and it has put out a standing call for new members, specifically including community and veteran service organizations willing to work toward eliminating veteran suicide in our state.
That call deserves an answer. West Virginia’s veteran suicide rate is now among the very worst in the nation, and the trend has been moving in the wrong direction for years. No single agency reverses that. It takes the courthouse, the clinic, the Legion hall, the gun shop, the church, and the family kitchen table, all pulling in one direction.
The Eight Fifty Committee intends to be part of that effort, and we encourage every veteran-serving organization in our six counties to look at the Governor’s Challenge and ask where they fit. Information is available through the West Virginia Department of Veterans Assistance at veterans.wv.gov.
When one West Virginian suffers harm, we all do. The team fighting that fight should be as big as the state’s heart.
