Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

Veterans Connection Organization of Bartlesville (VCO) and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) are collaborating for a grant to bring in a veteran suicide prevention program.

VCO Executive Director Sharon Reese says Together with Veterans (TWV) is a community-based suicide prevention program for rural Veterans. She says TWV works to build and strengthen partnerships between rural Veterans and their communities to implement a plan for community-based suicide prevention. The TWV program follows a comprehensive public health approach and is aligned with the VA National Strategy for Preventing Veterans Suicide.

Reese says the mission of TWV program is to enlist rural Veterans and their local partners to join forces to reduce Veteran suicide in their community. She says they want to serve Bartlesville, Nowata, Pawhuska, and the towns that surround them in their respected counties.

According to Reese, the grant for the program would be funded by the VA for three years. Reese says the VA selected VCO to be part of this organization. She says VCO will work with a local Steer Committee out of Bartlesville that will provide suicide awareness for veterans in Washington, Nowata and Osage County.

The hope for the Steer Committee is to meet once a month. Reese says they are local people that just want to be a light and provide resources to veterans who are struggling with suicide. She says this is a veteran driven program.

Reese says the committee consists of the following individuals:

• David Taylor, a Firefighter
• Jim Warring with Crisis Management at Grand Lake Mental Health Center (GLMHC)
• Dr. Amy Thornton
• Janie Palmer - Coordinator
• Sharon Reese - Facilitator

A focus group will be held at a later date for the TWV program that is coming to Bartlesville. Reese says the meeting will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Tri County Tech's Strategy Center. She says six to ten community partners will come out and be a part of the startup and address community needs when it comes to Veteran suicide prevention.

The session will be recorded and sent to the VA. Reese says the VA will review the video and determine what resources are needed for our communities. She says they already have leaders ready to attend the focus group session:

• Jason Elmore
• John Williams with Osage Nation
• Jim Warring, GLMHC
• Daphne with the VA
• Peter from Oklahoma Veteran Alliance
• Sharon Reese with VCO
• Janie Palmer with VCO

Reese says VCO was selected for this program because Washington County was at a higher tier for veteran suicide. She says they want to lower the veteran suicide rate in our area as a result.

Veterans Connection Organization can be found at Tri County Tech's Strategy Center, 6101 Nowata Road in Bartlesville. For more information, visit the Bartlesville Veterans Suicide Prevention Coalition's Facebook page.

To learn more about VCO of Bartlesville, click here.