AFSP-RI 2026 National Advocacy Forum

We were pleased that our Rhode Island Chapter was able to send 3 representatives to represent our chapter at the National AFSP 17th Annual Advocacy Forum 2026 held May 10-13th in Washington DC.

Missy Ames (Pawtucket), Quinten Foster (Ashaway) and Karen Jeffreys (North Kingstown) joined over 250 advocates from around the country in Washington for Capitol Hill visits to advocate for 3 national AFSP bills. There were AFSP advocates representing every state in the country and 273  hill visits were completed on Tuesday, the Hill Day.

The Rhode Island team met personally with Senator Reed, Representatives Magaziner and Amo and with a legislative staff member from Senator Whitehouse’s office. Each office expressed strong support for suicide prevention work, a commitment to the AFSP legislative agenda and a promise to keep suicide prevention and mental health issues front and center on the national stage.

The 3 bills highlighted for federal advocacy this year were:

·       Daniel J. Harvey, Jr. and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act (HR2878/S2096);

·       Stabilization to Prevent (STOP) Suicide Act (HR8124); and

·       Barriers to Suicide Act (HR3505).

For more information on these bills, you can visit the Legislative Action Center on the National AFSP website, and click on the button for Advocacy Forum Priorities: https://afsp.org/public-policy-action-center/

Missy Ames, Chair of the Advocacy Committee, was the State Advocacy Captain for Rhode Island at this year’s Forum and stated, “There is immense power in sharing our stories to drive change. It was an honor to advocate for critical legislation like the Barriers to Suicide Act and the STOP Suicide Act—because every bridge built and every service funded is a message of hope to those who need it most."

Advocacy efforts that local members can take include:

·       Contacting our federal delegation to thank them for meeting with our Rhode Island team and urging their continued support of the national AFSP agenda, click on this link to send email;

·       Becoming part of the RI Advocacy Team. You can join by emailing Missy Ames at [email protected]

·       Getting to know who your local state Rep and Senator are and send them emails on bills of local AFSP concern; and

·       Attending local AFSP advocacy events when possible.

There is power in numbers, and our voices, united, DO make a difference. A representative from SAMSHA, who spoke at the Advocacy Day Forum, said that the reason the proposed SAMSHA cuts were reversed this year was the tremendous advocacy from AFSP and other grassroots groups. Together we can keep building AFSP’s advocacy power locally!