ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Suicide is an issue that impacts so many people across New Mexico and September is Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month.

According to the most recent NMHealth data, at least 500 New Mexicans took their own lives every year between 2018 and 2022. That includes many of our veterans, as federal data shows 69 service members in New Mexico died by suicide in 2021. That impacts Native Americans, in particular.

There are efforts out there to bring those numbers down. One woman is even taking the fight to the Navajo Nation.

“You go through a lot of the stuff that some of these guys, some of these ladies and gentlemen, have gone through, and you try to still be normal,” emphasized Cassandra Morgan, the program lead of the Diné Naazbaa Partnership.

Not only does lead a group advocating She is also a second-generation U.S. Marine veteran.

“I joined the Marines because my dad’s a Marine. He’s a Vietnam veteran,” Morgan said. 

She knows life after the military is not easy for everyone, especially in the vast Navajo Nation.

“Native Americans, in general, they have a high suicide rate because of the rural vastness and lack of resources, you know, where they’re at,” Morgan said. 

According to the most recent U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs data, the number of Native American veteran suicides surged in 2021. The data suggests it’s happening a rate nearly 10 points higher than white veterans.

“Sometimes our veterans run into hardships. They find obstacles. And usually that starts a domino effect into thinking there’s no way out. Or there’s it’s just an endless cycle,” Morgan said.

She added it was hard finding help when she got out of the military back in the 1990s. Based on her conversations with recent veterans, she knows not much has changed.

“I said, ‘What was your experience like, as far as transitioning?’ He says, ‘My granduncle told me to go register with the veterans’, and that’s it,” Morgan said. “I said ‘Marine, I’ve been where you’re at. And there was nobody there to help me.’ I said, ‘So now here’s the difference. I’m here. What do we need? Let’s go get it.’”

The Diné Naazbaa Partnership is a group helping Native American veterans find and access the help.

“You always see the look on their faces. It’s like, somebody finally understands, somebody knows what this is like,” Morgan said.  “I filed my own claim. I’ve gone through the health care system at the VA, I’ve been homeless, I’ve had to sleep in my car. So I know how to come back from that.” 

Spreading knowledge and kindness to the heroes who need it most.

“If you look at it as not suicide awareness, but living healthy, living a quality way of life, and knowing that it’s out there, there’s opportunities for that to be better. As long as you’re here, as long as you’re still in the fight, you’re good to go. We can make it somehow,” Morgan said.

For more information on the Diné Naazbaa Partnership, click here.