LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Tonight, we're focusing on a crisis impacting veterans right here in Southern Nevada: the growing number of veteran suicides.
According to the latest numbers from the Department of Veterans Affairs, 111 veterans in Nevada died by suicide in 2021. For every 100,000 veterans in Nevada, about 50 die by suicide, while nationally, that number is closer to 34.
To put that into perspective, for every two veterans who die by suicide nationwide, about three die here in Nevada.
It's a sobering reality leaving countless Las Vegas families in pain.
So we wanted to find out what resources are available here locally and how a new grant is providing life-saving support to veterans in our community.
"I would call it a pandemic, man," said Jimmy DePew, who knows the pain of losing someone who served beside him.
"Veteran suicide is something that is an unfortunate cost of what we do in the military profession," he said.
Earlier this month, he told me he attended the funeral of his close friend, a 38-year-old veteran and a Las Vegas native who died by suicide.
He said it's a loss that's left him shaken.
"I went and got his tattoo that says 'I got your six,' with the suicide prevention semicolon the day after I found out that he passed, so I can remember that someone always has my back, and sometimes it's me."
But DePew said his friend Michael is not the only one. He told me he has lost 37 people in his life as a result of mental health issues.
Sadly, Nevada has one of the highest veteran suicide rates compared to the rest of the country.
"If you are not talking about it and it's not in the forefront of your mind, it is something that costs you your mind," DePew said.
But there is hope. for the third year in a row, U.S. Vets, a nonprofit helping veterans here in Clark County, was recently awarded $100,000 as part of its veteran suicide prevention program.
"Veterans need to know that these things exist because if they don't, they will think they are alone, and that's when the suicidal thoughts come across when you think you're alone," DePew said.
A U.S. Vets representative tells me that $100,000 grant will be used for local services, including mental health screenings, crisis counseling and suicide prevention support.
"If you could give a message to a veteran who is really struggling right now, what would you say?"
"We are out here. There are a lot of places where you can go and get help, and the only person that can do that for you is yourself," DePew said. "There is no need to make a permanent solution to a temporary problem when there is help available, but you have to be brave and strong enough to seek it."
Here are all the services the grant is being used for here in Clark County:
- Baseline Mental Health Screening; Outreach
- Education
- Clinical Services for Emergency Treatment
- Case Management
- Peer Support Services
- Coordinating VA Benefits Assistance
- Coordinating Federal Government Benefits Assistance
- Personal Financial Planning and Counseling Assistance
- Transportation Services Assistance
- General Suicide Prevention Assistance
- Peer Support Groups or Approaches
- Mindfulness; Outdoor Recreation
- Substance Use Reduction
