Military members get help with civilian transition

by **Falcon** Fri 07 Sep 2018, 7:11 pm

Military members get help with civilian transition

Brian Kelly

Published Sep 07, 2018

Men and women in uniform preparing to leave the Canadian military can get help making the major transition to post-service life.

North Bay-based Veteran Family Program is a partnership between Veterans Affairs Canada and Military Family Services, a division of Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services. The program, connecting veterans and their family members with available support and services, is funded by Veteran Affairs.

“When someone joins the military, it’s not just a career. It’s a way of life,” program coordinator Tina Thomason told The Sault Star. “It’s threaded throughout all they do. It influences the way the way they think, the way they speak. That extends to their family as well.”

The move from the military to civilian life can be “extremely difficult” if it’s due to medical or mental health factors, she adds.

“There’s a sense of loss,” said Thomason. “There’s a sense of abandonment. There’s a whole identity shift that happens there. Support during that time is crucial.”

Just how many service personnel opt to settle in the North Bay office’s catchement area is difficult to track. Thomason senses the number is “large” and “it’s growing” because “lots of veterans choose Northern communities to settle.” Her office covers an area stretching north to Hudson Bay, west to near Thunder Bay, south to Parry Sound and east to New Liskeard and Pembroke.

Her office can help veterans who range in age from their twenties to sixties. Average age range is 40 to 50, especially for a medical-related release.

Staff can assist with tasks such as contacting Veterans Affairs Canada, obtaining benefits from the federal department, caregiver burnout and finding a family doctor.

“Families are often the ones that find themselves having to support and do a lot of the work,” said Thomason. “We want to let them know they’re not alone, that we can help them navigate through that. We can help educate them on the important pieces of that.”

No fees are charged.

Sault Ste. Marie city council proclaimed Veteran Family Week in 2017. The week has “grown in scope” this year with several events planned starting with a proclamation reading by Mayor Christian Provenzano at Superior Nissan on Monday at 12:30 p.m.

Other activities include a barbecue at Lavish Salon from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday and mental health first aid at Algoma’s Water Tower Inn on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

All activities are posted online at www.veteranfamilyprogram.ca

Contact Thomason at 705-494-2011, ext. 2138.

Veteran Family Program started as a pilot program with seven sites in 2015. There are now 32 locations across Canada.

btkelly@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @Sautlreporter

The Sault Star

by **Replica** Mon 25 Mar 2019, 8:53 pm

Veterans getting help with end-of-career transition

As of April 1, a new Veteran Family Program offered by Military Family Resource Centres across the country will offer information and services to military personnel transitioning to post-service life. This includes a Veteran Family Information Fair at the Brandon Legion on April 10.

Christopher L. Istace / Westman Journal
MARCH 25, 2019

Military members get help with civilian transition Military-family

Retired military personnel and those nearing the end of their military career are getting help transitioning to post-service life through various programs provided by the Veteran Family Program offered by Military Family Resource Centres across Canada.

The inaugural Veteran Family Information Fair will be held on April 10 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 3 at 560, 13th Street. The afternoon session will provide information on services and supports that are available to veterans and their families through Military Family Resource Centres (MFRC) and civilian organizations.

“This was a pilot project supporting the medical release of members and their families that offers transition programming, service deliverance and one-on-one support,” said Pamela Hall, Veteran Family Program coordinator at the Shilo MFRC.

“Two years into the program, the funders, Veterans Affairs Canada, conducted a review. The results of the review were extremely positive and, as of April 1, the program was launched into a national substantive program across all 32 MFRCs (Military Family Resource Centres) in the country.”

Program coordinators and Military Family Resource Centre staff have been put in place to help released military members transition to civilian life by providing support programming and services at MFRCs and information on accessible resources in the civilian community.

The pilot project for the Veterans Family Program initiative began in 2015 and included services provided at Shilo and six other Canadian Forces Bases.

Hall said the program, which will be announced as a permanent national service extension for Canadian members of the military at the information fair, is open locally for military personnel from throughout the country.

“People from this area that have been posted somewhere then move back home once done and others that were posted here, settled down, started a family and decided to stay can access the Veterans Family Program (in Shilo),” Hall said. “There’s quite a number of families that fall into these categories living in the Westman region.”

The Veterans Family Program has been developed to meet the needs of medically releasing Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans and their families. The services provided through the 32 MFRCs across Canada include mental health, first aid, veteran community, financial matters for transitioning families, living a full life, and a care for the caregiver guide.

The upcoming information fair will provide veterans and members of their support system – a spouse, children, friends, associates, neighbors or others with close ties to the veteran – with an opportunity to learn about post-service life. Service providers from Shilo, Brandon and locations outside the province will be attending the fair. They include Canadian Armed Forces representatives, health and wellness, finances and recreation.

“We just want to help raise awareness of the services available to help veterans and their families. It’s really progressed even in the past decade. There’s so many resources available to them,” Hall said.

https://www.westmanjournal.com/news/local-news/veterans-getting-help-with-end-of-career-transition-1.23770257

Military members get help with civilian transition

Military members get help with civilian transition

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