State Sen. John Velis listens on to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren as she opens the roundtable discussion on veteran suicide at HCC.
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis
HOLYOKE — A roundtable on the continuously rising rates of veteran suicide took place at Holyoke Community College on Oct. 24 as U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Cambridge) and state Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) hosted the discussion amongst local and statewide providers.
The local and statewide stakeholders in veterans’ services present included suicide prevention teams from the Central Western Massachusetts VA, the Massachusetts National Guard, and the Western Massachusetts SAVE program. There were also representatives from various veterans’ services organizations across Western Mass.
The roundtable discussions aimed to foster state and federal collaboration, assess ongoing efforts and develop new strategies to address the veteran suicide crisis. Both Warren and Velis noted by discussion’s end that they had definite takeaways they could bring with them back to policy making.
“My job is to make sure you get the resources to continue to move information and really be proof of concept that if we put more into it we can do a better job and you help me put more into it when I’m down in Washington,” Warren told the roundtable after the discussion.
Both Warren and Velis expressed they thought it was a productive discussion and they came away with a clear message that if they can help these veterans services get more resources they can provide more outreach and connect with those veterans who need the support. Velis serves as the chairman of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Veteran and Federal Affairs, while Warren is a member of the U.S. Senate’s Armed Forces Committee.
“There’s a great group of folks here that my gut tells me when we bring these types of folks together there is a way to get to some solutions,” Velis said.
Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Northampton VA Jillian Hynek opened the discussion sharing some background information as related to veteran’s suicide rates.
“We’re here today because we know that suicide is a national crisis that can most effectively be addressed through a collaborative public health approach. In particular, veterans in our community are dying by suicide at a higher rate than our community folks, so what can we do,” Hynek said.
Hynek shared that in 2021, over 48,000 people died by suicide in the U.S., the 11th leading cause of death. For context, homicide was the 17th leading cause of death the same year, according to her data shared.
Suicide was the 13th leading cause of death among veterans overall and the second leading cause for veterans under age 45. Veteran suicide remains an urgent and growing concern across the nation. According to the VA’s 2023 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, an average of 17.5 veterans tragically take their life each day across the nation.
Velis, during the discussion, asked what is the root for getting more veterans familiar with their enrollment options with the VA. Many of the various stakeholders involved expressed that improving on outreach was fundamentally key.
“We’re the only state in the entire country that has a veteran service officer that at least covers every community — roughly 351 communities — around 280 VSOs. You have frontline workers in every town and city that can push any program that can be pushed from our offices to the masses,” said Wilbraham Veterans Services Director Jered Sasen.
Warren and Velis were also joined by state Rep. Patricia Duffy (D-Holyoke) and Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia.
“On a local government standpoint, certainly I learned a lot here that I didn’t know walking in so I appreciate the senator for putting this together. We have a very functioning veterans service department and one thing that I learned greatly is this concern about the outreach,” Garcia said to press following the roundtable. “There are small things that we can do on a local government level. I’d love to work with my veterans director when budget season comes around and how do we support his department in the area of outreach, so I’m looking forward to see what I can do on a local government level.”
