Veterans and their families got a boost from the federal government Monday.
Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan was in Montreal at the Old Brewery Mission to announce that 21 Canadian organizations have been awarded funding.
More than 150 Canadian organizations applied for funding from the ‘Veterans and Family Well-Being Fund,' which focuses on improving the wellbeing of veterans and their families.
This announcement concerns the 2018-2019 year, where $3 million is going to be distributed.
According to O’Regan, the parameters are really about research and innovation, organizations that think big and have new and effective ways to improve the current situation of veterans.
"We want to improve the services and benefits that we provide and help make veterans' transition - from military life to a civilian life - as seamless as possible," O'Regan told reporters. "We want to help them find a new purpose. Purpose is so important."
The organizations are in cities all across Canada, and deal with three main factors: mental health, family wellbeing, and homelessness.
Numbers from a national study, released in 2016, show that there are about 2500 homeless vets across Canada.
In Montreal, about two to three per cent of the homeless are vets, and according to the president of the Old Brewery Mission, that’s a very manageable number.
"That renders it a very manageable and endable problem," explained Matthew Pearce, president of the OBM. "And so, we can get our hands around that - we can wrap our heads around that."
Pearce said that the mission receives about 45 homeless people - former veterans - each year.
The Old Brewery Mission was one of the 21 organizations that received money from the Federal government - $192,298 for ‘Operation Chez Toi,’ an initiative that helps veterans in all aspects of their lives, from finding shelter, to employment, to transitioning to life after service.
