Robert Irvine Foundation Honors 100 Navajo Veterans with Meals, Suicide Prevention Training

The Robert Irvine Foundation and Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren put evidence-based suicide intervention directly in front of 100 Navajo veterans Wednesday, using Navajo Women's Veterans Day as the occasion to deliver Face the Fight crisis training alongside meals from Bidii Chidi, a mobile food service operating on the Navajo Nation to address veteran food insecurity.

The program targets a documented crisis. The veteran suicide rate runs 60 percent above the national average, and more than 125,000 veterans have died by suicide since 2001. Nearly 40 percent of those deaths involved veterans with no diagnosed mental health or substance use condition, which means clinical referral programs alone leave a large portion of the at-risk population unreached. In Apache County, where the nearest full-service VA medical center is a multi-hour drive and Indian Health Service clinics in Chinle and Fort Defiance serve a reservation spanning more than 27,000 square miles, the distance between a veteran in crisis and formal care is a recurring obstacle that tribal programs and county partners have repeatedly flagged.

The Robert Irvine Foundation joined the Face the Fight coalition in 2024 and integrated suicide intervention and prevention training into its programs. The Face the Fight curriculum centers on two evidence-based modules: Crisis Response Planning (CRP), a collaborative intervention for managing acute suicide risk, and Lethal Means Safety (LMS), which focuses on reducing access to firearms and other means during a crisis. Both are offered at no cost. In its first year, Face the Fight grantees helped screen nearly 15,000 veterans for suicide risk, with more than 5,000 receiving suicide-specific interventions.

The foundation addresses food insecurity through grocery handouts and gift card distribution, and the Bidii Chidi mobile service extended that mission to Wednesday's gathering. One in six military families struggles with food insecurity. Isolation and unmet basic needs are documented risk factors for suicide, making the meal component more than ceremonial.

The foundation credited Nygren's office for its role in coordinating the event. Apache County Supervisor District 2 and the Navajo Nation Veterans Administration maintain a joint outreach partnership with the VA, though formal services remain limited relative to the region's veteran population.

Veterans and families in Apache County who need help now can call or text 988 and press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line, or dial 1-800-273-8255 and press 1. The line runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors is available at 1-800-959-TAPS for those who have lost someone to suicide.

Veterans groups, tribal programs, or IHS clinic staff interested in scheduling Face the Fight CRP or LMS training can contact Bob Yarnall at the Robert Irvine Foundation through the foundation's website, or reach the organization at 1-800-557-1445.