The meeting brought locals together to discuss suicide among veterans in rural communities like Taos and, furthermore, ways to confront the issue. Introductions and brief presentations built up to the focal point of the event: breakout groups, where veterans and some civilians discussed plans of action for reducing suicide rates among veterans, which were then presented to the rest of the room.
A total of 6,146 U.S. veterans took their own lives in 2020, the latest year for which data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was available, and analysis of that data shows that veterans in rural areas take their lives at a rate 6 percent higher than those living in urban areas. That fact led the VA in 2015 to form Together with Veterans, a rural veteran suicide prevention program, and the first chapter in New Mexico was formed last April here in Taos County, sponsored by local nonprofit Veterans Off Grid.
U.S. Army veteran Ryan Timmermans, of Veterans Off-Grid, purchased 50 acres of land in Carson west of Taos in 2016 and has made it his goal to use that land to help his brothers and sisters in arms. He graduated from the Earthship Academy - which teaches techniques for building off-grid, solar-powered homes from tires, bottles and other recyclable material - near Taos and began the process of bringing homes to vets who needed a bit of healing and help along their journey.
The meeting brought locals together to discuss suicide among veterans in rural communities like Taos and, furthermore, ways to confront the issue. Introductions and brief presentations built up to the focal point of the event: breakout groups, where veterans and some civilians discussed plans of action for reducing suicide rates among veterans, which were then presented to the rest of the room.
A total of 6,146 U.S. veterans took their own lives in 2020, the latest year for which data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was available, and analysis of that data shows that veterans in rural areas take their lives at a rate 6 percent higher than those living in urban areas. That fact led the VA in 2015 to form Together with Veterans, a rural veteran suicide prevention program, and the first chapter in New Mexico was formed last April here in Taos County, sponsored by local nonprofit Veterans Off Grid.
