Veteran in crisis, or worried about one?
For Veterans, service members, and the people who love them
Stay here. We've got your six.
Free, confidential help from people who'll walk with you: into VA health care, toward the benefits you earned, and through whatever is weighing on you right now.
No cost, ever. You don't need to be enrolled in VA to start. We serve Veterans in person across East Tennessee, Virginia, and the surrounding region, and online anywhere in the U.S.
You don't have to be in crisis to reach out.
Most people who reach out to us aren't at a breaking point. They're tired of carrying something by themselves. If any of this sounds familiar, that's reason enough to talk.
- Work ended, or the paycheck doesn't cover it anymore
- Debt, legal trouble, or a housing situation that's slipping
- Pain, an injury, or sleep that won't come
- Drinking or using more than you'd like
- Losing someone: a friend, a marriage, a brother or sister you served with
- Feeling far from your unit, your family, or anyone at all
How it works
Five steps, at your pace. You decide what help you want, and nothing happens without your say.
Reach out
Fill out the short form below. A family member or professional can reach out for you, with your OK.
Talk with a case manager
A Stay Here case manager reaches out within 72 hours, usually sooner. We confirm you qualify, explain how the program works, and do a short well-being check-in.
Make your plan
Together we set goals around what matters most to you right now, and write them into a plan that's yours.
Get connected
We help you enroll in VA health care and get to your first appointment, connect you with an accredited representative for benefits, and line up local help with housing, work, money, and more.
Finish strong
Before we wrap up, we repeat the check-in to see what's changed, and you'll get a short survey to tell VA how we did.
What we can help with
One case manager who knows your story and follows through, so you're not starting over with every office and every phone call.
VA health care
We help you apply, gather the paperwork, and get your first appointment on the calendar.
VA benefits
We connect you with an accredited Veterans Service Officer who can file claims on your behalf, and we stay with you through it.
A case manager in your corner
One person who follows through: appointments, rides, referrals, reminders, and regular check-ins.
Everyday needs
Housing, food, transportation, utilities, legal aid referrals, and benefits like SNAP and TennCare, through programs in your area.
Someone who's served
Talk with a fellow Veteran trained in peer support who knows what this road looks like.
Training for families
Free ACT training helps the people around you notice when something's wrong and know what to do.
Safe storage
Practical, judgment-free help storing firearms and medications safely during a hard season.
A Lifeline band
A free wristband that opens the Veterans Crisis Line, free therapy, and Stay Here's Veteran resources with one tap of your phone.
Emergency care coordination
If you need emergency care, we help you get there and coordinate with VA afterward.
Through this program we connect you to counseling and medical care rather than providing it ourselves. Everything is free, and you can stop at any time. How this program works
Get connected
Tell us a little about you. A Stay Here case manager will reach out within 72 hours, usually sooner.
- Takes about three minutes.
- We will never ask for your Social Security number on this website.
- Before you enroll, we'll explain exactly what information is shared with VA for this program, and why.
If you're thinking about suicide right now, don't wait for us. This form isn't monitored around the clock. Call 911, or reach the Veterans Crisis Line any time.
Connect with a case manager
Fields marked optional can be skipped. Everything else helps us reach the right person.
You may be eligible for free emergency suicide care
Many Veterans and former service members in a suicidal crisis can get free emergency care at any VA or non-VA health facility, even if they aren't enrolled in VA health care. In an emergency, go to the nearest emergency room or call 911.
If you get emergency care while you're working with us, tell your case manager so we can let VA know and coordinate what comes next.
ACT is Stay Here's suicide prevention training. In less than an hour, you'll learn how to spot the warning signs in someone you love and exactly what to say and do next.
- Free for Veterans, service members, their families, and the groups that serve them
- Take it online on your own time, or book a live session for your post, unit, congregation, or workplace
- Built on the basics that save lives: asking directly, listening, and getting someone to help
Sign up for ACT training
Sign up and we'll take you straight to the online training. Booking for a group? We'll reach out to schedule.
Help on your wrist
The Stay Here Lifeline band is free for Veterans, service members, and families. Tap your phone to it and help opens right away. No app needed.
- One tap opens the Veterans Crisis Line, free therapy through our partner BetterHelp, safety planning tools, and Stay Here's Veteran resources
- Soft, stretchy cloth you can wear every day, in the shower and at work
- Wear it as a quiet reminder that someone has your back, or give one to a buddy
Request a free Lifeline band
We'll mail it to you at no cost.
How this program works, and your rights
Plain answers to what you should know before you start. Your case manager will go over these with you too.
This program is paid for by VA
Stay Here's Veteran program is paid for, in whole or in part, by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program. Stay Here is an independent nonprofit. We are not part of VA, and VA's funding is not an endorsement of Stay Here or its activities.
Services available through this program
- Outreach, and a well-being check-in when you start and when you finish
- Case management from a Stay Here case manager, a written plan made with you, and weekly peer support from a fellow Veteran
- Help applying for VA health care and connecting with an accredited representative for VA benefits
- Help finding and coordinating other public benefits and local support, including housing, food, transportation, utilities, SNAP, TennCare, and referrals to legal aid
- Suicide prevention education for you, your family, and your community, including ACT training and safe storage information
- A free Lifeline band
- Help getting emergency care, and coordination with VA afterward
Conditions and limits
- Eligibility. Services are for people who qualify under the program's rules, and their families. Before services begin, we confirm eligibility with you and keep a record of it.
- No fees. We never charge you for services in this program.
- Check-ins. We'll ask you to complete short well-being questionnaires when you start and again when you finish. VA uses them to measure whether this program helps.
- Counseling and medical care. Through this program we connect you to VA and community providers for ongoing counseling and medical care rather than providing it ourselves.
- Financial help. We can't hand out cash. When the program helps with a cost, we pay the provider directly.
- VA claims. Stay Here staff can't represent you on a VA claim, but we'll connect you with an accredited representative who can.
- Where we serve. We serve Veterans in person across East Tennessee, Virginia, and the surrounding region, and online anywhere in the U.S. Some services, like in-person visits and help with local programs, depend on where you live.
- Your choice. Taking part is voluntary. You can stop at any time.
You can apply for VA health care
If you're a Veteran, you can apply to enroll in VA health care, and your case manager can help you do it. Your VA point of contact for enrollment help is [VA enrollment point of contact], [phone]. You can also call VA's health benefits line at 877-222-8387 or apply at VA.gov.
Free emergency suicide care
You may be eligible for emergent suicide care furnished or paid for by VA under 38 U.S.C. 1720J, at VA or non-VA facilities, whether or not you're enrolled in VA health care. If you receive or choose to receive this care while working with us, please tell your case manager so we can notify VA and help coordinate your follow-up. Learn more at VA.gov.
Written notice of beneficiary protections
Stay Here is a faith-based organization. Everyone is welcome in this program, whatever you believe or don't believe. The notice below is required for programs funded by VA.
- Name of Organization:
- Stay Here Nonprofit Corporation
- Name of Program:
- Stay Here Veterans, funded by VA's Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program
- Contact Information for VA Grant Program Office:
- SSG Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, VA Office of Suicide Prevention. Email: VASSGFoxGrants@va.gov
Because this program is supported in whole or in part by financial assistance from the Federal Government, we are required to let you know that:
- (1) We may not discriminate against you on the basis of religion, a religious belief, a refusal to hold a religious belief, or a refusal to attend or participate in a religious practice;
- (2) We may not require you to attend or participate in any explicitly religious activities (including activities that involve overt religious content such as worship, religious instruction, or proselytization) that may be offered by our organization, and any participation by you in such activities must be purely voluntary;
- (3) We must separate in time or location any privately funded explicitly religious activities (including activities that involve overt religious content such as worship, religious instruction, or proselytization) from activities supported with direct Federal financial assistance;
- (4) You may report violations of these protections, including any denials of services or benefits by an organization, by contacting or filing a written complaint with the grant program office using the contact information set forth above; and
- (5) If you would like to seek information about whether there are any other federally funded organizations that provide these kinds of services in your area, please use the contact information set forth above.
This written notice must be given to you before you enroll in the program or receive services from the program, unless the nature of the service provided or exigent circumstances make it impracticable to provide such notice before we provide the actual service. In such an instance, this notice must be given to you at the earliest available opportunity.
Your privacy
- We collect only what we need to reach you and help you. We never ask for your Social Security number on this website.
- Before you enroll, we explain what information VA receives to run and evaluate this program, and we ask for your written permission where it's required.
- Otherwise, we share your information only with your permission, or when needed to keep you or someone else safe, or when the law requires it.
- We don't sell your information, and we don't use it for advertising.
Read our full privacy policy.
Tell VA how we did
Within 30 days before you finish the program, we'll give you a short satisfaction survey that you can send directly to VA. Your honest answers help VA decide which programs work.
Finishing up with us?
Two short surveys, two different jobs. One goes straight to VA. The other comes to us so we can get better.
Tell VA how we did
VA's satisfaction survey goes directly to VA, not to Stay Here.
Your case manager will send you VA's survey link before your last session.
Open VA's surveyTell Stay Here how we did
Takes a minute. You can leave your name off.
Questions people ask us
Does this cost anything?
No. Every service in this program is free, and we will never send you a bill.
Do I need to be enrolled in VA health care first?
No. Many of the people we serve aren't connected to VA yet. If you want VA health care, helping you get enrolled is one of the main things we do.
My discharge wasn't honorable. Can you still help?
Possibly, yes. Some former service members with other-than-honorable discharges qualify for this program and for certain VA care. Reach out and we'll check together.
I don't live near you. Can you still help?
Yes. We serve Veterans online anywhere in the U.S., and in person across East Tennessee, Virginia, and the surrounding region. If a program closer to home would also help, we'll connect you with it. VA lists its community suicide prevention programs by state at MentalHealth.VA.gov/ssgfox-grants.
Is this counseling?
Not directly. Your case manager helps you get practical things done and connects you with counseling and medical care through VA or community providers. If you're in crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line is available any time: dial 988, then press 1.
Stay Here is faith-based. Do I have to be religious?
No. You're welcome here whatever you believe. You'll never be asked to take part in any religious activity to get help, and your services don't depend on your beliefs. See the beneficiary protections for details.
Can I reach out for someone else?
Yes. Family members, friends, and professionals can fill out the form. If the person doesn't know yet, we can help you figure out how to talk with them. If you think they're in danger right now, call 911 or dial 988 and press 1.
I'm still serving. Will my command find out?
We keep what you tell us private and share it only as described in your privacy rights. Your case manager will walk you through exactly how your information is handled before you enroll.
What's the Lifeline band, exactly?
A soft cloth wristband with a small chip inside. When you hold your phone near it, a page opens with the Veterans Crisis Line, free therapy through our partner BetterHelp, safety planning tools, and a way to reach Stay Here. It's free for Veterans, service members, and families.
Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox
The grant that funds this program carries the name of Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox, a sniper instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He joined the Army in 2014 and was known for his generosity and kindness to others in need. He died by suicide in 2020 at the age of 25. We carry this work forward in his honor.