"I hope we are brave enough to take the steps needed to change society’s stigma associated with Veterans asking for help to treat mental illness and substance abuse," said John Krotec, Founder of GreenZone Hero.
 

GreenZone Hero enlists The Adanta Group Behavioral Health Services, Kentucky as the first GreenZone Hero, veteran-friendly Behavioral Health Services Group. Adanta has joined forces with GreenZone Hero to honor Veterans as a veteran-friendly business. Both GreenZone Hero and Adanta hope to increase public awareness of Suicide Prevention support and intervention for Veterans.

In 2014, an average of 20 Veterans died, by suicide each day. In 2014, Veterans accounted for 18% of all deaths from suicide among U.S. adults, while Veterans constituted only 8.5% of the U.S. population. There is a societal stigma – defined as a sign of disgrace or discredit which sets people apart from others – that negatively impacts any person reaching out for help with mental illness. Unfortunately, mental illness is seen as a sign of weakness, when in reality, it is an illness that can be addressed through therapies and medical management – exactly like diabetes or heart disease. It is also unfortunate that mental illness, when not addressed with a professional, sometimes ends with suicide. GreenZone Hero, with its subsidiary company Task Force Zen, hopes to change this statistic with the help of organizations like The Adanta Group.

GreenZone Hero recognizes businesses that honor Veterans in the following ways: 1)Businesses owned or managed by a veteran, 2)Special veteran discounts, 3)Businesses that hire Veterans, and 4)Business that make donations of time, money, or other resources to organizations that serve Veterans.

The Adanta Group is one of the growing members in the GreenZone Hero Community, with all of its 12 locations joining.

John Krotec, founder of GreenZone Hero and a Veteran himself said, “I hope we are brave enough to take the steps needed to change society’s stigma associated with Veterans asking for help to treat mental illness and substance abuse. Companies like Adanta know that by learning about and implementing steps for suicide prevention and providing quality mental health and substance abuse services to its clients. Veterans and others can learn behaviors to maintain healthy relationships, make good life choices, maintain health and well-being, positively manage the ups and downs of life, and grow toward their potential.â€Â

More information about GreenZone Hero can be found at http://www.greenzonehero.com and information about The Adanta Group can be found at http://www.adanta.org.

About GreenZone Hero: The GreenZone Hero mission is to increase awareness of businesses that offer benefits to Veterans and to help Member businesses grow commerce and prosper. GreenZone hero also works to raise the profile of veteran-focused nonprofit foundations and to help raise donations and support for our Ambassador organizations.