The Captain Nichola Goddard Fund – True Patriot Love Foundation

Nichola-Goddard_reg

Captain Nichola Goddard was a true example of leadership. As an Artillery Officer she effectively led her unit through harrowing situations, supported her comrades, and was highly respected by her peers. Sadly, in May 2006, she was killed in an ambush in Kandahar, Afghanistan, making her the first Canadian woman soldier to die in a combat role. She was 26 years old.

Since 2018, True Patriot Love Foundation has been proud to steward and grow the Captain Nichola Goddard Fund. Seven years on, the Captain Nichola Goddard Fund continues to celebrate and serve strong women like Nichola who have the courage to never take no for an answer. They are the service women, Veterans, who protect the values integral to Canada and stand on guard in conflicts around the world and in response to national emergencies at home.

The Captain Nichola Goddard Fund provides national funding to directly benefit community programs that support servicewomen, female Veterans, and their families, which help address unique challenges related to military life.

You can support the fund by making a donation today.

Slide

Applications to The Captain Nichola Goddard Fund are now closed.

With this Fund, True Patriot Love aims to provide support for women who have trained and served in the Canadian Armed Forces. Through this Fund, we also pay tribute to the sacrifices they have made both in Canada and internationally.
 

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

• A Canadian Registered Charity must offer the program/services. An understanding of military culture is required and may be informed through collaborations within the military charitable sector.
• Organizations and programs must have appropriate and relevant safeguarding processes, including background and reference checks on staff and volunteers and policies to ensure the safety and security of all participants
• The Fund is open to applications from programs that support mental health, leadership and military to civilian transition programs and services that demonstrate long-term impact for servicewomen and women Veterans and, their families
• Consideration is given to programs and services that are financially sustainable or have developed a strategy for continued funding outside of True Patriot Love’s support

Should you have any questions or would like to learn more about the Fund, please reach out to Namita Joshi, Chief Program Officer, at njoshi@truepatriotlove.com

Addressing the need

Women account for 16.6% of the Canadian Armed Forces and face unique challenges related to their service such as a higher risk of military-related sexual assault and a higher likelihood of mental injuries such as post-traumatic stress among women who report military-related sexual assault.
Veteran women have an 81% higher risk of suicide than women in the general population.
In addition, 40% of military personnel released each year will experience a psychological injury requiring support and treatment.

Our impact – thanks to your support

Launching in 2018, True Patriot Love hosted the inaugural Captain Nichola Goddard Reception. Guests gathered to pay tribute to women in the military and heard from a panel of successful women as they shared their stories of courage and leadership and touched on their unique experiences in the Canadian Armed Forces.
We are proud to continue this tradition with the Annual Captain Nichola Goddard Leadership Series, now hosted in multiple cities across Canada. The foundation also launched a podcast entitled For Her Country. The podcast was in honour of Capt. Goddard and aimed to inspire and educate listeners by profiling some of these inspirational women leaders in the Canadian military.
Through these activities and with your support, to date, over $860,000 has been committed from the Fund, which has supported initiatives supporting a broad range of needs.

Learn more in our For Her Country podcast

TThe podcast is in honour of Captain Goddard and aims to inspire and educate listeners by profiling inspirational women leaders in the Canadian military. To listen, click here.

Past Recipients

Can Praxis

Location – Delivered in Alberta – participants will be Canada-Wide:

Can Praxis will expand its 3-day Three Sisters Camp in 2026 from two to three annual cohorts. This free, evidence-based, women-only, equine-assisted therapy program will support 10 women Veterans per cohort.

Participants will engage in facilitated group therapy sessions (neurobiology of trauma, emotional regulation, and healthy boundaries), alongside equine-assisted activities focused on trust-building, self-awareness, and connection. Program evaluation will be conducted in partnership with the University of Calgary and the University of Saskatchewan.

Warrior Adventures Canada

Location – Delivered in Ontario – participants will be Canada-wide

Gear Up for Growth expands on WAC’s women-only expeditions by investing in gender-specific outdoor gear and trauma-informed facilitation to support up to 120 women Veterans over the next 10 years.

The initiative supports servicewomen and women veterans living with service-related mental health challenges, including operational stress injuries and military sexual trauma.

In addition to the gear, WAC will offer multi-day, peer-led wilderness expeditions specifically for 12 women veterans. The programs provide survivor-informed, nature-based healing and bridge the gap between clinical treatment and community support.

Carp Ridge Learning Centre/Women Warriors’ Healing Garden (WWHG)

Location – Ontario

The project’s purpose is to increase WWHG’s capacity to offer its programs in beekeeping, equine-assisted psychotherapy, donkey walking, in-person and virtual art therapy, nature-based and creative workshops, and movement-based workshops such as gentle yoga. The goal is to offer more programs to more people and increase the number of Veterans and family members supported by 50%.

Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada

Location – Ontario

CLC’s Empowering Female Veterans is a campaign for mental health and brain injury interventions to reach female Veterans across Canada. The program increases visibility, representation, and engagement of female Veterans in brain health and peer support services, particularly through the Operation Brain Health™ (OBH) Digital App and the Veteran Peer Support Network (PSN). The program directly supports female Veterans in their recovery and transition journeys, while amplifying their voices in national conversations on brain health and well-being.

Team Rubicon Canada

Location – Ontario

Funding supports Team Rubicon Canada’s capacity-building efforts for 11 female Veterans who participated in the 2024 Service Women’s Education and Training (SWEAT). The SWEAT program was created to connect a diverse community of women with shared values who advocate for women’s advancement, develop strong leadership skills through education and training events, and create a strong support system that empowers volunteers, personally and professionally.

The Pepper Pod

Location – Quebec

Funding supports a capacity-building retreat, led by The Pepper Pod, for 12 Women Veterans. The retreat brings together Veterans with shared lived experiences, fostering connection and the development of a trusted peer network to support one another as they navigate life beyond service.

VETS Canada

Location – Nova Scotia

With this funding, Guitars for VETS will deliver its VETS Women Rock and Write Recovery Workshop. Guitars for Vets Canada matches Veterans and still-serving members with PTSD or other service-related disabilities with gently used guitars and, where available, online/volunteer lessons. The goal of the program is to put the healing power of music in the hands of heroes.

Team Rubicon

Location: Ontario

Funding in support of the mental health and training of women Veterans volunteering with Team Rubicon Canada to serve communities in crisis in Ontario in 2022-23. Through the Captain Nichola Goddard Fund, Tearm Rubicon Canada will build capacity and mental health training for women Veteran volunteers and provide professional development for TRC’s women Veteran Staff members.

Team Rubicon currently has 57 women in Ontario who are active-duty or military veterans, up from 41 last year and growing. The wraparound support and training tools provided by Team Rubicon Canada allow Veteran Volunteers to be confident in the care they provide to communities in crisis and in caring for themselves. This opportunity empowers women Veterans to receive Mental Health First Aid and operational training, which all contribute to their sense of well-being and mental health as they deploy for disaster response in Ontario.

Funding will also support professional and leadership development through DEI and GBA+ training for a woman Veteran on the finance team and other women Veterans in Ontario.

Amelia Rising

Location: Ontario

Funding will support 16 women military members who have experienced sexual misconduct to work through common symptoms of trauma, such as trust issues, relationship challenges, hypervigilance, and post-traumatic stress, through an equine therapy program.

Amelia Rising Sexual Violence Support Centre (ARSVSC) will partner with HorseAbility to deliver this initiative. The trainer is qualified in multiple modalities of equine-led therapies and has experience working with military members. ARSVSC internal mental health counsellors and staff will also support the program. There is no riding involved in this program, nor will the participants discuss personal traumas. This initiative provides the opportunity for women members impacted by sexual misconduct to have space from the base, in a supportive environment, to process trauma and gain self-esteem, confidence, and self-awareness.

Writers Collective Canada

Location: National (virtual)

In 2022, True Patriot Love funded Writers Collective Canada to launch its first virtual workshop series for Canadian women who have served in the military. This project, Healing Unseen Wounds: Her Story, trained two Veteran women as facilitators, in accordance with the organization’s methods to deliver the workshops. They were supported by a third WCC facilitator, herself a retired police officer. In addition to the facilitators, 17 women participated in 11 workshops offered virtually over Zoom.

For phase two of the initiative, The Next Chapter, this funding will benefit Veteran servicewomen (inclusive of those who identify as women) across the country – offering a brave space to reflect, write, listen, be heard and build community. Virtual writing workshops (like the ones proposed here) offer opportunities to those who are isolated further by geography or physical limitations.

Wounded Warriors Canada

Location – Ontario

Wounded Warriors Canada will offer their Trauma Resiliency Program (TRP) to 3 women Veterans. The TRP program has been clinically developed to help CAF members and Veterans acquire the necessary tools to overcome the impact of operational stress injuries.

Team Rubicon

Location: Ontario

Funding in support of the mental health and training of women Veterans volunteering with Team Rubicon Canada to serve communities in crisis in Ontario in 2022-23. This support provide capacity and mental health training for women Veteran volunteers and professional development for TRC’s women Veteran Staff members.

Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia/Landing Strong

Location: Nova Scotia

The project aims to increase the availability of mental health services and therapy resources to women Veterans and women service personnel who live with operational stress injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This project is an adaptation of the Landing Strong program that focuses specifically on women and addresses women’s specific mental health needs. By offering a women-only therapy program, this project will address the impact of trauma in women, as experienced by women, led by women, and help them adopt recovery strategies tailored to their specific struggles.

Quebec Veterans Foundation/Pepper Pod

Location: Quebec

Life’s big transitions, such as leaving the military, can be quite a challenging mission and The Pepper Pod was created to help women Veterans contribute to this buddy system as they face their “enemies”. Funding for this program supports Veteran women to take the life lessons from their previous participation in Pepper Pod’s Lifeshop program and build a plan to find their purpose. Then, they will plan to create a life that puts this purpose into action. Mind mapping, Neuro-linguistic programming, and coaching will be used to give Veteran women the tools to “fail forward”, grow, continue healing, and thrive.

Team Rubicon Canada

Location: Alberta

Funding supported Team Rubicon’s women’s chainsaw and mental health initiative. A four-day mentorship program, empowering women to learn or build their skillset in chainsaw operations and learning the tools of mental health first aid. By breaking down the obstacles to participation, Team Rubicon will help build participants’ confidence to step up on operations and their tools for positive mental health on and off deployments.

Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research at Queens University

Location: National

Funds from the Captain Nichola Goddard Fund supported a research project through the True Patriot Love CIMVHR Research Initiative entitled “Serving Women of the Canadian Armed Forces and Women Veterans.” The project aimed to update recent literature, consolidate, and apply an analytical lens to the existing research and scoping reviews that have been completed to date.

Veteran Transition Network

Location: Alberta and Ontario

Funding for this program supported the delivery of Transition Skills Courses (TSC) for women Veterans from Alberta and Ontario in 2020. The 5-day program helped women Veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic address and cope with the challenges of transition to civilian life, magnified by the pandemic, while also providing an opportunity to be supported by their peers.

The program offers women 50 hours of therapeutic group work, psycho-education, and skill rehearsal exercises.

Southwestern Ontario MFRC –

Location: Ontario

Funding supported a Mindfulness Training Workshop with women participants who are spouses/partners to a CAF member living with OSI. It built resilience and capacity in the participants who were experiencing “Compassion Fatigue”; developed a peer support network, and reduced isolation.

Veterans Emergency Transition Services Canada (VETS Canada)

Location: National

Recognizing the unique need of women Veterans in crisis, this project allowed VETS Canada to meet the ever-growing need for women-specific Veteran support nationally. VETS Canada created a promising-practice guide regarding the provision of emergency support for in-crisis / homeless women Veterans. VETS Canada has identified specific challenges and dynamics of the women Veteran experience and combined this into a resource for utilization of other organizations and initiatives so that women Veterans who are struggling/in crisis/living homeless receive the best support.

Women Warriors Healing Garden/Ottawa Victim Services

Location: Ontario (Ottawa)

This funding represents the first community investment in Women Warriors Healing Garden, a not-for-profit organization that partnered with the registered charity, Ottawa Victim Services (OVS) to deliver hope and space for survivor-led therapy for Servicewomen and women Veterans. Ottawa Victim services is a community-based agency that provides emotional support, practical assistance, referrals, and advocacy to individuals who have been victimized as a result of crime or tragic circumstance.

This program supported women with individual counseling, group counseling, peer support, group art therapy, and other activities in the presence of domesticated farm animals.

Veterans Transition Network

Location: Nova Scotia

The Veterans Transition Network delivers programs sensitive to the unique challenges women face in the Canadian Armed Forces and during transition, such as discrimination, harassment and military sexual trauma. Funding supported a 6-day program with 100 hours of group counselling and skill development services that provided support for five Veteran women and two paraprofessionals experiencing challenges in transition.

Royal Canadian Legion – Trenton (Branch 110)

Location: Ontario

Funding supported a newly identified need within the spousal community of Veterans. The program enabled the development and facilitation of a monthly peer support group for spouses of ageing Veterans by a registered psychologist.

Free Spirit Therapeutic Riding Association –

Location: Nova Scotia

Funding supported the Freedom to Grow program which provided Attachment-Based, Trauma Informed Equine Assisted Psychotherapy to women military members and veterans. This project focused on individuals struggling with mental health (PTSD, MDD, Anxiety, etc.) and psychological issues (parent-child conflict, workplace stress, harassment/workplace bullying and marital discord).