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Less than 25% of service members leaving the military register for the care they've earned with the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Studies have shown they're at a 3x higher risk of committing suicide within just their first year of being a veteran. Similarly, first responders such as EMS, firefighters, and police are 1.5 to 2x more likely to commit suicide during their career. Both of these populations share a dangerous culture of "sucking it up" instead of asking for help, not wanting to be seen as weak or a burden to others, and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol.

This is an unnecessary stigma and these daily tragedies are wholly avoidable with basic, rapid, and appropriate care!

By helping fund BKD Newburgh, you are providing the ability of our Hudson Valley veterans, emergency medical professionals, firefighters, and police officers to receive FREE mental health care, crisis intervention, and resources to build resilience when they need it most.

So what's the so what? Newly separated veterans often don't have insurance or well paying careers right out of the gate, and the majority of EMS providers in this country are volunteers. Even those who are paid employees often work two to three separate jobs to make ends meet. Under the best of circumstances, even with insurance that will cover it, seeking therapy is more often than not seen as a luxury rather than vital healthcare.

It should not and does not have to be this way.

Your contribution will alleviate that burden. All money raised will go toward costs associated with them seeing a licensed therapist qualified in current evidenced-based practices (CBT, DBT, Prolonged Exposure, as well as our effort to provide team building, resiliency, and suicide prevention programs for local ambulance companies, firehouses, and their support organizations.