While Veterans Day on Nov. 11 brings awareness to the needs of U.S. military veterans, officials with Houston-area veterans organizations said there is a growing need for mental health support that is filled in part by local nonprofit organizations.

In Montgomery County, where 6.6% of the population are veterans, the only nearby Department of Veterans Affairs clinic is in Conroe, leaving nonprofits to reach out to the veteran communities through events such as Veteran Mobile Food Pantries, which the nonprofit Combined Arms launched in 2022.

What to know

In 2018, the VA saw that many veterans who died by suicide were not going to the VA, Suicide Prevention Program Manager Elizabeth Kleeman said. Instead of waiting for veterans to go to the facility, the VA created coalitions and partnerships that allowed it to reach out to veterans in communities, according to Kleeman.

“When a veteran calls, texts or chats with the crisis line, if they accept a consult to the Suicide Prevention Team, we are required to outreach them the next business day, so no later than 24 hours after they call,” Kleeman said.




According to the VA and the Face the Fight coalition:
  • 72.2% of suicides involving a firearm in 2021 were veterans, nationally.
  • In 2021, suicide was the 13th leading cause of death for veterans.
  • Over 120,000 veterans have died by suicide since 2001 in the U.S.
  • 50% of veterans who died by suicide did not have a known mental illness.
  • 7.4% of working-age veterans as well as 17% of post-9/11 veterans and military families face food insecurity.
Digging deeper

The goal of the VA is to reach areas where there are veterans, including areas that are less populated or institutions such as local universities and colleges, Kleeman said. One Houston-based organization that works with veterans is Combined Arms, which has a goal to “create a support platform for veterans and military families so they can access the resources they need to continually thrive in their communities,” according to its website. The organization launched in 2017 in Houston, and it has expanded across the state with the help of 30 partner organizations, according to the website.

“Think of us as the connector, and we have the technology platform that can really track what veterans need over time," Combined Arms Executive Director Mia Garcia said. "And what that enables us to do is identify what gaps and resources might exist, but also get smart about at what age do veterans need certain resources and about how a veteran connects with us.”


The organization works with local communities and organizations, such as the Montgomery County Food Bank. According to its website, Combined Arms identified an increase in food assistance requests by using data-driven insights to launch its Veteran Mobile Food Pantries in Galveston, Ellington Field and Montgomery County in 2022.

Next steps

In addition to working with the food bank, Combined Arms offers access to other resources and partners with the VA. In an initiative launched by the VA in September, gun locks were made available at several food pantry events.

“We at VA really feel strongly that secure storage, via firearm block or temporary out of home storage or just dismantling the firearm, makes a huge difference in the safety of not just the veterans and the people they even care about, but the community at large,” Kleeman said.


The Veterans Crisis Line offers 24/7 support, live connection, and serves veterans, their families and friends.