NH Delegation Announces $400K Grant to Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester to Support Local Suicide Prevention Efforts

(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) announced that the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester will receive $400,000 in federal funding to support local suicide prevention efforts through government funding legislation that was passed by Congress and signed into law in December. Specifically, the funding was awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the agency’s Zero Suicide initiative. This initiative supports efforts by community mental health providers to implement comprehensive suicide prevention and intervention programs that raise awareness and improve care and outcomes for those at risk for suicide. Shaheen has supported funding for mental health programs like Zero Suicide each year through her work on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“Robust support for suicide prevention programs must be a top priority for Congress, especially now as Granite Staters cope with tremendous grief, stress, anxiety and trauma created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m glad that the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester will receive these federal dollars that will help bolster suicide prevention efforts in Manchester and central New Hampshire. I’ll continue to work across the aisle to secure the resources our state and local partners need to save lives and help those with mental illness during these challenging times.”

“This federal funding to the Greater Manchester area for suicide prevention will help save lives by providing much-needed support for suicide prevention and crucial mental health services,” Senator Hassan said. “We included significant mental health funding in recent COVID-19 relief legislation given the challenges that so many have faced amid this unprecedented pandemic, and I will continue working to ensure that the funding gets to our Granite State communities.”

“The Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester has done a remarkable job transforming its approach to providing client care which has helped decrease deaths by suicide by more than 40%,” said Congressman Pappas. “These federal funds will go a long way in furthering their important work by allowing them to train additional staff to better identify early warning signs and provide support for those most in need.” 

Shaheen has worked to secure funding for mental health care and substance use disorder treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. During negotiations for the emergency COVID-19 relief legislation that passed Congress and was signed into law in December, Shaheen successfully fought for the inclusion of language – which Hassan supported – providing $4.25 billion in funding for substance use disorder treatment and mental health care. Thus far, New Hampshire has received more than $16 million through this funding.