$30,000 is coming to help improve the mental health and wellness of Auburn firefighters.
The Auburn Fire Department has been named as one of 13 recipients of the New York State Office of Mental Health’s 2024-2025 NY CARES UP grant award. Fire Chief Mark Fritz made the announcement to City Council at last Thursday’s council meeting. He said the funding will be used to help firefighters deal with the mental demands of the job.
“[This grant will be used] to provide training and education to our uniformed personnel to administer the program to provide materials like 988 stickers… that’s the suicide prevention hotline and the like,” said Fritz.
Only in its second year, the grants aim to improve the mental health and wellness of uniformed personnel and veterans by enhancing an organization’s mental health support for them. CARES UP stands for Changing the conversation, Awareness, Resilience, Empower peers, Skills building/suicide prevention for Uniformed Personnel.
According to the Office of Mental Health, first responders are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty.
The two-year grant will have its performance period begin next year and requires no monetary match from the city.
Out of the 10 first responder organizations and three veteran serving organizations awarded funding this year, Auburn’s department was the only fire department on the list.
Fritz added that more information on how the program will work will be forthcoming.
