Governor Kathy Hochul announced the award of 18 grants to expand resiliency and suicide prevention efforts among military veterans and uniformed personnel, including law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical service personnel, correction officers and emergency dispatchers.

The grant which is administered through the New York Office of Mental Health’s - Suicide Prevention Center of New York, the CARES UP initiative will provide $60,000 over two years to four law enforcement agencies; three fire departments; three EMS services; three emergency communications organizations; two corrections agencies and three organizations serving veterans.

“New York’s first responders and uniformed personnel routinely go above and beyond the call of duty, and often at great personal expense,” Governor Hochul said. “This funding will ensure these organizations and agencies are better equipped to cultivate resilience and mental wellness among their ranks to help properly address stress and trauma they encounter in the line of duty.”

The CARES UP program provides organizations with $30,000 annually to increase suicide prevention efforts and wellness programming in their agencies. First responder agencies work closely with the Suicide Prevention Center to receive training from national subject matter experts on topics such as resiliency, mental health and wellness, suicide prevention and peer support and implement agency-specific actions to address their unique needs.

This year’s CARES UP recipients include:

Capital Region:

· Albany County Corrections
· Albany City Police Department
· Albany County Sheriff’s Office
· Clifton Park & Halfmoon Emergency Corps
· Colonie EMS
· Veterans and Community Housing Coalition
· Watervliet Fire Department

Central New York:

· Eastern Paramedics Inc.
· Onondaga County Department of Communication Services
 

Mid-Hudson:

· Clarkstown Police Department
· Village of Mamaroneck Police Department
· New Windsor Police Department
· Pleasant Valley Fire District
· Port Chester Police Department
· Orange County Emergency Services Emergency Communications
· Orange County Emergency Services – Police Services Division
· Orange County Emergency Services - Fire Services Division 
· City of Rye Fire Department

Long Island:

· Nassau County Sheriff’s Department
· Sayville American Legion Post 651
· Suffolk County Police Department
· Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department

Mohawk Valley:

· Utica Center for Development Inc
 

North Country:

· St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility
 

Southern Tier:

· Village of Liberty Police Department
· Sullivan County Division of Public Safety
 

Western New York:

· Allegany County Sheriff’s Department
· City of Olean Fire Department*
· Town of West Seneca Police Department