Empowering Veterans Through Connection and Community

In June 2026, the Veteran Suicide Prevention Evaluation Capacity Building (VSPE) Program hosted a partner convening in Atlanta, GA. The meeting provided a rare opportunity to bring together funders, subject matter experts and Veteran Serving Organizations (VSOs) at all stages of experience with the project to discuss building the evidence base for upstream veteran suicide prevention.

After serving our country through active duty, our nation’s veterans can face complex challenges as they transition from military to civilian life. VSOs play a critical role in helping veterans make that transition, providing essential programs and services and offering support with employment, housing, education, life skills, mental health and community connection.  Such support can help build protective factors against suicide risks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Suicide Prevention Resource for Action. 

Since 2018, the VSPE program has helped over 24 VSOs build internal skills, systems and confidence to evaluate their suicide prevention programs. At the June convening, VSOs shared their stories: from building their first data collection systems, to better communicating how their programs are contributing to reduced veteran suicides, to building evidence for the field and securing additional funding to sustain suicide prevention programs. 

“The Veteran Suicide Prevention Evaluation Program has really helped us refine how we serve veterans, improving and saving their lives, and helped us increase our capacity to serve them,” said Kaitlin Cashwell, director of development for America’s Warrior Partnership, a VSPE partner since 2018.  

Participants shared that while building evidence for this work is important, so too is effectively communicating how these programs reduce veteran suicide risk and build protective factors like cultivating human connection and reducing loneliness. 

“The VSPE program has given us the tools, the framework and the language to really prove that that is the experience [service members and veterans] are having,” said Dr. Trina Clayeux, CEO of Give an Hour, a VSPE partner since 2024. 

None of us can do this work alone. The future of upstream suicide prevention depends on strong partnerships, a common commitment to strategic action and the investments VSOs need to prevent veteran suicide.  The CDC Foundation is thrilled to support that work through the VSPE program in partnership with CDC and Safe States Alliance.

Learn more about the VSPE program and evaluation resources that are available to your organizations and staff.

This program is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) via multiple financial assistance awards totaling $2,940,000 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.