We Are Watching the Fox Grant, and North Central West Virginia Should Be Too

There is a federal funding opportunity open right now that could change what suicide prevention looks like in our corner of West Virginia, and The Eight Fifty Committee is watching it closely.

The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, named for a 25-year-old Army sniper instructor lost to suicide in 2020, is the VA’s largest investment in community-based suicide prevention. This year the VA will award up to $112 million to community organizations nationwide. Grants run as high as $750,000 for new applicants, and they fund the work that actually reaches veterans where they live: outreach, screening, case management, peer connection, help with benefits, and lethal means safety.

Here is the part that should get your attention. Since the program launched in 2022, the VA has awarded more than $200 million to organizations in 46 states, territories, and tribal lands. Based on the published award lists, no West Virginia-headquartered organization has ever received one. The only coverage our state has ever seen is a single southern county served by a Kentucky grantee. North Central West Virginia, with one of the highest veteran suicide rates in the nation, has none.

That math does not sit right with us. Our veterans are not less worthy of this investment. Our need is not smaller. The applications for this year’s funding are due to the VA by June 12, and we believe organizations in our region, including ours, owe it to the 21,000 veterans of North Central West Virginia to compete for it.

Watch this space.