Lacey Veterans Services Hub (LVSH) Manager Keith Looker reported that suicide has been an ongoing problem across the veterans and active-duty community.
Speaking during the Lacey Commission on Equity meeting on Monday, July 24, Looker reported the efforts that LVSH is making to address the concern.
“It seems that those numbers are increasing,” said Looker. “Our goal is to try to catch them before they go into crisis.”
Looker said the hub is working actively to identify individuals with housing, food, financial and drug addiction problems, which are linked as causes of the suicide crisis.
“We identify individuals in the community that either has drug or alcohol, mental health and try to provide them a diversion option instead of incarceration,” Looker added.
From 2018 to 2022, Looker said the hub has helped house 128 veterans in Lacey. He added that they have also conducted outreach to 1,325 veterans.
Looker also reported that they received Food Insecurity Grants from Bob Woodruff Foundation and Lions Club, which helped them serve 489 and 50 veteran families, respectively.
Looker added that LVSH is continuously partnering with various organizations and agencies to help provide services to the families of veterans and active duties in the city.
At present, the hub’s service network now exceeds 135 partners.
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JohnJacup
One of the greatest problems we face with veterans' suicide is that JBLM is denying veterans access to crisis counseling and suicide prevention resources. Veterans trying to access the Chaplains Family Life Counseling Center are being turned away and veterans in crisis are even being denied access to the Madigan Emergency Room. We have personally reached out to the JBLM DES trying to address this issue and support out local veterans, but JBLM has been completely unresponsive, leaving our veterans in crisis and without support, while JBLM demonstrates a total indifference to the needs of our veterans in the local community.
Thursday, July 27, 2023 Report this