VA Awards $3.8M For Veteran Suicide Prevention Efforts In Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded more than $3.8 million to nine community organizations providing suicide prevention services to veterans in Alabama, including several programs serving Tuscaloosa County.

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The funding comes through the VA's Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program and is part of $112 million awarded to 191 organizations nationwide.

Officials said the money will become available at the beginning of fiscal year 2027.

In Tuscaloosa County, the funding includes three organizations whose service areas specifically include the county.

Southern Alabama AHEC was awarded $665,927 to provide services across nine Alabama counties, including Tuscaloosa.

West Central Alabama AHEC received $388,345 for work in Tuscaloosa, Greene and Hale counties.

Southeastern Vet to Vet Peer Support Inc. was awarded $750,000 for a service area that includes Tuscaloosa, Lee, Macon, Montgomery, Randolph and Russell counties in Alabama, along with several counties in Georgia.

Combined, those three organizations received more than $1.8 million, though each grant covers multiple counties and the VA's award information does not specify how much of that funding will be spent specifically in Tuscaloosa County.

“Community organizations play a vital role in strengthening the support network available to Alabama Veterans,” said Dr. Maisha Moore, interim director of the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center. “These grants provide Veterans with lifesaving support and ensure they have access to the care and resources they deserve right here in our community.”

The Fox grant program provides funding to nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, federally recognized tribes and other community organizations that have demonstrated an ability to serve veterans.

The program is intended in part to reach veterans who are not receiving care through the VA health care system.

According to the VA, 61% of veterans who died by suicide in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, had not received VA health care during the final year of their lives.

Nationwide, approximately 17,000 veterans, service members and family members received services through Fox grant recipients in 2025, a 31% increase from the previous year, according to the VA.

The agency said grant recipients connected 344 at-risk veterans with emergency mental health care in 2025. Another 2,647 veterans who had not previously used Veterans Health Administration services were connected with VA care and resources through the program.

The grants are one part of the VA's broader suicide prevention efforts. Through Sept. 20, the Veterans Crisis Line had answered more than 1.3 million calls, texts and chats during fiscal year 2026, according to the agency.

The VA also reported completing more than 5.5 million suicide risk screenings through August.

Veterans experiencing a crisis, as well as their family members and friends, can reach the Veterans Crisis Line by calling 988 and pressing 1, texting 838255 or using the service's online chat.

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