GREENVILLE — Each day, nearly 18 veterans commit suicide nationwide, according to most recent data from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Last September, Joshua Clardy was almost part of that statistic.
Clardy, who trained as a wheeled vehicle mechanic, has two daughters and started his own software company after leaving the Army in 2018. Now, after he and his friends faced their own mental health struggles, he’s launching The Safety Plan — a wellness kit business based in the Upstate, where every purchase helps prevent veteran suicide.
Clardy is distributing the kits first to local first responders and veterans and their families, but ultimately his goal is to be on the ground for natural disasters nationwide.
The Resilience kit has an energy drink, daily nutrient vitamins, electrolytes, immunity gummies and an energy and focus supplement. The Home Front kit offers similar products but is focused on family members of service members.
Both include customized morale cards with encouraging messages and a crisis hotline number. One of Clardy’s favorites for first responders is, “Before you max out your VA benefits, let’s max out the longevity of today.”
There are links and resources to multiple types of mental health and crisis support throughout his website.
“Anybody who views this website — if they’re in any sort of trouble, regardless of what they’re going through — they will have access immediately to crisis lines,” Clardy said.
The goal, Clardy said, is to raise enough support to eventually transition into a nonprofit model. By the end of 2026, he wants to see the veteran suicide rate drop by even 1 percent.