Five Ohio organizations received nearly $2.5 million in federal grants aimed at preventing veteran suicides, including two that serve Franklin and Licking counties.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the funding Wednesday, Sept. 30, as first reported by Spectrum News 1. The grants became available Thursday, Oct. 1, through the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program (Fox SPGP).

A & R Behavioral Inc. received $750,000 to serve veterans in nine counties, including Licking County, where parts of New Albany sit. Sub Zero Mission, a veteran-founded nonprofit based in Painesville, received $100,000 to cover 26 counties including Franklin County, home to Gahanna and most of New Albany.

The grants target a documented gap. According to the VA, 61% of veterans who died by suicide in 2023 were not receiving VA healthcare. The Fox program funds community organizations that can reach those veterans outside the VA system.

"These grants provide Veterans with lifesaving support and ensure they have access to the care and resources they deserve right here in our community," Jennifer DeFrancesco, director of the Dayton VA Medical Center, said in the VA's Sept. 30 announcement.

Sub Zero Mission, a nonprofit founded and operated by veterans, sends outreach teams called the Blue Coat Missionaries to meet people where they are. They distribute hats, coats, gloves, boots and sleeping bags to people living in camps, under bridges and on street corners. The organization also runs a Homeless Veteran Re-Empowerment Program offering housing, employment and transportation support.

Three other Ohio organizations also received grants: Butler County Community Health Consortium ($649,427, serving Butler and Montgomery counties), McBride Pathways for Veterans ($500,465, serving Butler, Hamilton and Warren counties) and Maumee Valley Guidance Center Inc. ($445,069, serving Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties).

The Ohio awards are part of $112 million the VA distributed to 191 organizations nationwide. Before this year's round, the VA had awarded $210 million to 111 organizations since 2022, according to the VA. In 2025, about 17,000 veterans, service members and family members received services through Fox grantees, a 31% increase from 2024.

The program is named after Staff Sgt. Parker Gordon Fox, a U.S. Army soldier who died by suicide in 2020.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.