Four opportunities to support Canada’s veterans

Article content

Blake Goldring knows a thing or two about showing donors a memorable time.

Recently Goldring, founder and chairman of Toronto-based Canada Company, a charitable organization supporting Canadian military members and their families, travelled to Petawawa, Ont., with community leaders who wanted to experience a day in the life of a soldier.

Everything was going to plan until he noticed one participant, a man from a high-net-worth family, standing at the edge of a high tower, strapped into a harness and ready to jump. The exercise was intended to get people used to parachuting.

But the man couldn’t do it.

Even though there would be a controlled descent, he stood there for nearly an hour, uncertain. Eventually he fought his fear and leapt, later telling Goldring, “I feel like a thousand pounds has been lifted off my back. I confronted one of my biggest fears and just feel fantastic now.”

“When people see what our military members do, it’s hard not to get blown away and be totally impressed with their commitment, professionalism and dedication,” says Goldring of what supporters discover when they actually attempt some of the training themselves.

Of course, philanthropic families don’t have to go to that extreme to connect with and support military-focused charitable organizations. Writing a cheque is perfectly fine (and safer). At Canada Company, the donations fund programs that not only build bridges between business leaders and military members and their families, but pay for scholarships for children of fallen soldiers. The scholarship presentation ceremony is now one of the highlights of the year.

Having to abruptly transition to the relatively unstructured civilian world from a very highly structured one can disrupt focus and trust – and can contribute to destroying families and friendships.

Alan Mulawyshyn, Veterans’ House Canada

“It’s truly a big family homecoming. We get together the night before the event and there’s such warmth,” says Goldring, a philanthropist and entrepreneur who uses his ample Bay Street cred as executive chairman of investment firm AGF Management Ltd. to connect the business and military worlds. “We want to put a metaphorical arm around the families and help them out in a really tough moment.”

Here are three other philanthropic options to consider, not just on Remembrance Day but all year round.

Veterans Transition Network

Back when he served in Afghanistan in 2009, Tim Laidler, co-founder and board chair for Vancouver-based Veterans Transition Network (VTN), was working the front gate at Kandahar Airfield when an Afghan vehicle approached. It held a horrifically burnt 15-year-old girl.

But Laidler was unable to ger her medical attention right away. All cars entering the space were required to be checked over by a bomb-sniffing dog. Unfortunately theirs was already engaged. For 30 minutes, the young soldier was forced to bear witness to the girl’s pain knowing he had the authority to let her in – but that doing so might risk the lives of dozens of colleagues inside the camp.

“That’s the situation individuals so often find themselves in in scenarios of war or even peacekeeping – being stuck between a rock and a hard place – doing what is required of you as a soldier conflicting at a very deep and profound level with who you want to be as a human being,” says Oliver Thorne, VTN’s executive director.

Selected two years in a row as a Top Rated 100 Charity by Charity Intelligence, VTN helps veterans transition to civilian life after their service – including helping them heal from moral injury in which a person feels shame over the impossible decisions made while serving. Without access to a support network, veterans might isolate and self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. It’s a dark path.

But VTN brings veterans together to give them coping skills and tools while helping them build trust in each other. “There are other veterans in the room who say, ‘I see you, I hear you, you are not a monster.’ We can help them resolve that psychological injury and then successfully move on,” says Thorne.

Success means learning how to integrate into the civilian world, whether by writing a star resume or landing a job that uses veterans’ highly transferable skills. Financial support for VTN means creating a social impact for all of Canada.

Fortunately, Laidler’s own story ended happily. Back in Canada, he went on to earn a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology at UBC.

“If we can give veterans some resolution and equip them with the skills and a plan to move in a successful way from military to civilian life,” says Thorne, “we’re gaining an incredible wealth of skill, dedication and work ethic for our civilian sector we so need.”

Homes for Heroes Foundation

The statistics seem impossible: Military veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to experience homelessness, and female veterans are at even greater risk.

But homelessness can be the result if a veteran no longer has the tight support system of his or her military family, or experiences prolonged unemployment or post-traumatic stress.

“We usually don’t put the words ‘homeless’ and ‘veterans’ together,” admits Cameron Diggon, vice president and director of fund development for Homes for Heroes Foundation in Calgary.

The organization is building villages of 20 tiny homes each to house struggling vets across the country. While the idea has already been tested in the U.S. with larger communities of 100 houses, 20 homes per village seems like the magic number.

“It’s a size of community that’s most likely going to result in peer-to-peer support, teamwork and a sense of community,” says Diggon.

The organization also helps veterans solve the issues that caused their homelessness in the first place. Veterans share their stories, and struggles then are matched with community services to help them land on their feet.

The first villages opened in Calgary in 2019, while Edmonton’s launched at the end of 2021. Construction is set to start next spring in Kingston, Ont., and Winnipeg, and there are now talks of Halifax, Quebec City, Vancouver and Victoria.

It takes about $5 million to build each village, and while corporations, service organizations and governments have offered support, the foundation also encourages high-net-worth families to consider sponsoring a home for $100,000. So far, all individual homes have been sponsored, says Diggon. In one case, a group of eight business leaders contributed more than $12,000 each.

“We believe if we’re going to solve the problem of homelessness among veterans,” says Diggon, “we’re probably going to have to build one or more of these villages in every major centre across the country.”

Veterans’ House Canada

Veteran homelessness is a serious problem in the nation’s capital, too.

Walk by the Andy Carswell Building, located on the former Rockcliffe Air Base in eastern Ottawa, and you’ll find walking paths, more than a dozen varieties of trees, a dog park and vegetable garden on site. Completed in early 2021, the 40-unit development offers permanent, affordable and supportive housing for formerly homeless veterans.

“Many of our veterans suffer from mental health issues exacerbated by their conditions of service,” says Alan Mulawyshyn, deputy executive director of Veterans’ House Canada and a veteran himself. “Having to abruptly transition to the relatively unstructured civilian world from a very highly structured one can also disrupt focus and trust – and can contribute to destroying families and friendships.”

But providing a stable home is only half the equation. There is also on-site support staff who work closely with the residents to deal with their unique challenges, whether that’s substance abuse or therapy for PTSD.

Veterans’ House Canada plans to replicate the Ottawa project across the country by building four more buildings in the next five years.

“Funding, land and partners are the key to making this a reality, and we are working on all of these fronts. The need is there, and we can help provide part of the solution,” says Mulawyshyn. “Our veterans deserve better.”

To become a supporter

• Canada Company: Visit the website or contact Marie Claire Ouellette at (647) 801-5210.
• Homes for Heroes: Visit the website or contact Cameron Diggon at (403) 850-2746.
• Veterans’ House Canada: Visit the website or contact Karen Miller at (416) 224-9990.
• Veterans Transition Network: Visit the website or call Carrie West at (604) 559-8155.

More from Canadian Family Offices

• What drives people of faith to give anonymously, or not?
• How to keep family from fraying at seams: ‘Start at the stroller’
• Making money is hard. Hanging onto a family nest egg is harder

Please visit here to see information about our standards of journalistic excellence.