New Veteran's Club team provides immediate counseling for veterans struggling with mental health issues

The Veteran's Club is a non-profit organization that works to connect veterans with each other...
The Veteran's Club is a non-profit organization that works to connect veterans with each other and other services they might need.(WKYT)
Published: Apr. 16, 2020 at 8:26 PM EDT
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Several weeks ago a non-profit organization that works with veterans

. They say that's a killer in the veteran community.

We checked back in with the Veteran's Club, and they say those fears have come to life.

"The uncertainty and the fear are really starting to set in," Veteran's Club Founder and CEO Jeremy Harrell said.

They're getting more messages and phone calls from veterans needing to talk about their mental health.

"We just fear with the suicide rate of veterans, we fear that day or two for them to get a hold of someone else, it could be too late," Harrell said.

That's where their new mental health team steps in. It's a group of clinicians who will be on call 24/7 to video chat, call, or text as soon as a veteran reaches out for help.

The clinicians are veterans themselves making them uniquely qualified to navigate those mental health issues.

"They have that deeper understanding of saying 'I know the emotion behind your fear and I know exactly what you mean when you say you're hyper-vigilant'," Harrell said. "And, they can really nail down the best way to treat them."

It's a group of about 8 volunteers right now, but they're hoping to expand knowing they could be in this journey for the long haul.

"We want as many people on board as we can because we recognize that there's no end in sight," Harrell said. "Tomorrow that could change, but right now we don't know when this is going to end, but we do know that it's going to become more of a burden as time goes on."

To reach out for a counseling session or if you are a clinician who wants to volunteer to help,

for the Veteran's Club contact information.