Angel Blog

Veteran Suicide Prevention Through Community Connection: Insights from the 2025 AWP Survey

Every year, America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP) conducts its Annual Community Integration Survey to better understand the wellbeing of Service Members and Veterans across the nation. The 2025 results are in, and they highlight both urgent needs and clear opportunities for action.

What the Data Shows

This year’s findings paint a complex picture of hope, resilience, and the importance of community:

  • Just over half of the Service Members surveyed are thriving. Nearly half need some level of support and are either in transition or feeling stuck, according to AWP’s “hope scale.”
  • Meaningful relationships and friendships increase hope by nearly 60%.
  • Feeling connected to a community increases hope by nearly 43%.
  • 70% of respondents are currently seeking resources or services. Their top needs include connection, recreation, help with VA disability claims, volunteer opportunities, and financial assistance.
  • Service Members who experienced long-term exposure (four or more years) to combat conditions saw their sense of hope decrease by about 10%.
  • Those who felt financially secure were 17% more hopeful.

What These Findings Mean

These numbers tell a powerful story: hope grows through connection. The more Service Members feel part of a supportive community, the stronger their outlook becomes. This is exactly where Soldiers’ Angels comes in. Every day, our volunteers and partners work to create the kind of meaningful relationships that the AWP survey shows make all the difference.

For Service Members, that means sending care packages, letters, and baked goods. It means extra support like candy or decorations during holidays, or warm socks and essential items when they need it most.

For Veterans, it means offering hope and care through food distributions that relieve financial pressure, spending time in their hospital room offering a kind word or a listening ear, housing packs to get them started in their new home or just a canteen gift card to have a meal at the VA. Everything we do at Soldiers’ Angels builds bridges of connection, belonging, and hope.

When our Angels volunteer their time, energy, and compassion, they do more than provide assistance, they restore a sense of community and purpose.

Turning Insight into Action

The AWP survey reminds us that while data can measure the problem, people create the solution. For Service Members who are struggling, that solution looks like a community that sees them, supports them, and stands beside them.

If you’ve ever wondered whether a single act of kindness can make a measurable difference, the answer is yes. According to AWP’s findings, hope increases up to 60% when people feel connected—and hope saves lives.

You can help make that impact by volunteering your time, making a donation, or partnering with us as an organization or business. Every gesture of support builds the kind of community our heroes need to thrive. Together, we can turn these survey insights into real, lasting change for Service Members, Veterans, and their families.

Learn more about our work and impact here.

About the Author

Ashley Ray has been a member of the Soldiers’ Angels communications team since 2013. She supports blog writing and social media and loves telling stories of Angel volunteers, Service Members, and Veterans.