CHEYENNE, Wyo. – For years, a small office suite tucked into a nondescript strip mall has provided a lifeline for veterans with mental health issues. It’s one of hundreds of tiny centers across the United States designed to act as a refuge for veterans in crisis.
But last month, the office manager, a Marine veteran with a glowing performance review, was fired as part of sweeping cuts across the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The manager, Carla Nelson, was the person who greeted every veteran at the front door. She was the one whose voice they heard when they called in seeking help.
Her termination and the potential for wider cuts have caused concern in the veteran community in Wyoming. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, more than 140,000 vets have lost their lives to suicide nationwide, according to the VA, five times more deaths than in the conflicts themselves. And the veteran suicide rate in Wyoming is 50% higher than the national average, according to the latest VA data.
“We lose too many,” said Justin Tripp, a Navy veteran who is now the Wyoming state commander for the VFW.
The issue is personal for Tripp. He said a good friend whom he had served alongside died by suicide recently.
“That transition to civilian life — that’s where we lose a lot of people to suicide.” Tripp added. “They don’t have a good transition. They’re not getting help for their mental illness.”
Roughly 40,000 veterans reside in Wyoming. They and others who live in rural areas tend to have lower incomes than their urban counterparts, and they often struggle to make it to appointments that can be hours away. They also rely on VA services more than those living in urban areas, according to VA data.
The system that serves these veterans is now bracing for much more significant cuts.
Last week, VA departments went through staff, line by line, identifying who was “mission critical” and who could be fired as part of a plan for 80,000 layoffs, according to two current VA sources.
“The real pain is coming,” said one VA official who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. “If we can’t provide the care in these rural communities, there isn’t another option, especially for mental health.”
In an interview with NBC News, Nelson, the fired office manager, said veterans came from all over the state and beyond to get help for post-traumatic stress disorder and other serious mental health issues.
“We deal with crisis situations,” Nelson said. “Some traveled up to an hour to get there, and even some came from Nebraska.”
Unlike a VA hospital, small centers like the one where Nelson worked offer an informal setting where veterans can walk in for help. She had been working there since May 2024.
“As a veteran herself, she listens with empathy,” read her October 2024 performance review, according to a copy obtained by NBC News. “She is the first person our clients come into contact with.”
Her manager also wrote that her customer service with veterans was “always exceptional.”
Nelson was at work Feb. 24 when she received an email informing her that she was terminated. “Nobody was pre-warned about any of this,” Nelson said. “Nobody knew.”
A federal judge has ordered probationary employees like Nelson to be reinstated, but for many the situation remains unclear.
VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz did not respond to specific questions about Nelson’s status.
“VA is complying with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland’s March 13 temporary restraining order and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s March 13 preliminary injunction related to probationary employees,” he said in a statement. “We cannot comment further due to pending litigation.”
VA Secretary Doug Collins has sought to reassure those who are worried about how the cuts will impact veterans directly. “We’re going to accomplish this without making cuts to healthcare or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries,” he said in a YouTube post March 5.
Tripp, of the VFW, said he agrees that the VA could benefit from some streamlining. But he believes that terminating someone like Nelson will have consequences for veterans in need of help.
“I would be concerned with positions that are front-line positions that touch veterans every day,:” he said. “I’d want to make sure that somebody’s at the front door so if a veteran walked in in a crisis, they would be there to help.”
Others in Cheyenne said they were concerned about impending cuts but feared that speaking publicly would make them a target, especially because 70% of the state voted for Donald Trump.
One VA employee, who lives in a Western state and spoke anonymously out of fear of retaliation, said the loss of support staff will impact clinical care because fewer appointments will be made.
While the VA has made great strides in improving telehealth services to assist rural veterans, some are still unable to access them, advocates say.
Chauncey Parker, who runs Great Plains Veterans Service Center in northern Montana, uses a federal grant to pay a network of veterans who drive fellow vets to appointments. He said the VA’s expansion into telehealth has helped significantly, but some vets don’t have access.
“Some of them don’t have the connectivity in the first place,” Parker said, “so that in-person visit with their health care provider is about all they have.”
