FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2019

Media Contact:
Anne Sonnee
(651) 757-1536
(651) 263-2640 cell
anne.sonnee@state.mn.us

WHAT :    

The 2019 Minnesota Legislative session included the adoption of Veterans Suicide Prevention & Awareness Day to be observed the first Saturday of October each year.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention recently published the 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. This report notes:

• 45,390 American adults died from suicide in 2017, including 6,139 U.S. Veterans.
  
• The number of Veteran suicides exceeded 6,000 each year from 2008 to 2017.
  
• Suicide prevention is a national priority and VA is dedicated to this mission, partnering with federal, state and community partners to address the issue of Veteran suicide.
  
• Our nation is understandably grieving with each suicide, prompting our collective and tireless pursuit of evidence-based clinical interventions and expansion of community prevention strategies to reach each Veteran.
  
• VA offers through this report a renewed and determined call to unrelentingly address suicide in our Veteran population and our society, as suicide has no single cause and the tragedy of suicide affects all Americans.
  
• The VA has adopted the public health model for Suicide Prevention working within the communities where Veterans work, live, and thrive to provide connections to care to all Veterans before they reach a crisis point.
  

WHO :    

• Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan
  
• Larry Herke, Commissioner - Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs
  
• Alissa Harrington, Veteran Suicide Prevention and Awareness Advocate
  
• Jessi Faue, RN, Education & Outreach Specialist, Suicide Prevention, Minneapolis U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center
  

WHEN :    

Saturday, October 5, 2019
3:00 - 3:30 p.m

WHERE:    

North St. Paul Veterans Park, 2438 Margaret St. N., North St. Paul, MN