Marine Corps League
Buddy Check Week – Partner Call to Action!
|
The Strong Veterans Act of 2022 requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct an annual Buddy Check Week. This week will be held October 16 – 20th inviting all Veterans to complete peer wellness, resiliency, and S.A.V.E. training with a pledge to contact up to 10 Veterans during Buddy Check Week. VA’s goal is to increase access to VA, improve mental health, increase awareness on suicide prevention, decrease isolation, and support peer networking. During Buddy Check Week, VA will provide training tools, resources, and other forums to ask questions and share stories of Veterans connecting with peers and battle buddies.
We invite all Veterans (families, caregivers, and survivors as well) to complete peer wellness and crisis intervention training and pledge to contact at least 10 Veterans. VA will provide training, resources, and other forums designed to energize dialogue about Veterans connecting with peers and battle buddies. Additional VA training resources will be made available on Oct 11th. Share and join our Buddy Check Week Peer Forums and Storytelling on RallyPoint and Together We Served with details coming soon. More info to come including training tools, a social media communications kit, and links to the forums. Share your blog content/events/trainings by September 26, 2023, by emailing VAVEOCOMMUNICATIONS@VA.GOV. VA S.A.V.E. Training PDF |
Calling all VSOs to join us for VA’s National Buddy Check Week by sharing peer wellness, resiliency, events, webinars, or 2–3-minute video PSA to show the value in checking up on your friends and family from service. The goal is to help battle buddies and friends from service connect, decrease isolation, increase access to VA, and offer mental health and crisis intervention support.
