PHOENIX — Gloribel Ramos sunk slightly under the weight of her 32-pound body armor and gingerly gripped a plastic facsimile of an M4 rifle as she prepared to watch a video of a roadside bomb detonated in Iraq, all so she could better understand the experience of war and its impact on people who have fought in one.

Along with about three dozen other people gathered here, she had joined an effort to stem veteran suicide, one heavily reliant on civilians in the community willing to take the time to learn the warning signs rather than depend only on the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has for years failed on its own to turn the tide of veteran suicides.

The program, called Be Connected, represents a rare — and quiet — spot of bipartisan cooperation between congressional Democrats, who are highly critical of so much of the president’s policy, and the Trump administration, which has moved aggressively to try to turn around the intransigent veteran suicide rate.

“We are working well with them,” said Representative Mark Takano, Democrat of California and the chairman of the Committee On Veterans’ Affairs, referring to the department. He specifically cited the Be Connected program, which focuses on reaching veterans at risk for suicide, whether they live on a Native American reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon or in this bustling city.