Halifax and Region MFRC
The Halifax & Region Military Family Resource Centre is one of the recipients of the 2021 Bell True Patriot Love Fund. Below they’ve answered some questions to help us learn a little more about their program, what they hope to achieve, and what they aim to do with the funding provided.
1. Tell me a little bit about your organization and its mission.
The Halifax & Region Military Family Resource Centre (H&R MFRC) is a non-profit charity organization governed by a volunteer board of directors that fosters a sense of community that is responsive to the evolving needs of military families, and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Family engagement is the cornerstone of the H&R MFRC, through the provision of a range of programs and services including one on one support, connection, social and educational programming, and events.
Information, referral, and navigation support promotes community integration to ensure no duplication of existing services available in the community. We support all three elements of the Canadian Armed Forces: Air Force, Army, and Navy. Our mission is to strengthen the well being of all those who share the unique experience of military life.
2. Can you describe your program in 3-4 sentences, including outlined objectives the program aims to achieve?
The program aims to achieve the following:
- Provide access to francophone mental health and wellbeing counseling.
- Access to mental health support in the community is limited with long wait times, this challenge is even more compounded for Francophone military families. This funding allows us to hire a contracted Francophone mental health professional who can augment our current H&R MFRC Mental Health and WellBeing team. Having been unsuccessful in recruiting a full time bilingual social worker, this is a new approach to address the gap in mental health to support our Francophone community.
3. What is the desired outcome of your program and its impact on the Veteran and military community?
To provide comparable access to mental health and wellbeing counseling support via the H&R MFRC in French. Having access to mental health support is a prevention tool that we know can help keep the family stable and foster resiliency, thereby supporting the CAF member to remain operational.
4. What does this grant from the Bell True Patriot Love Fund mean to you?
This grant from the Bell True Patriot Love Fund provides us with the opportunity to try new innovations or test ideas and address gaps in our service delivery. The agility of this funding opportunity allows us to explore unconventional methods of service delivery that augment our existing services. With a one-year pilot we can evaluate usage and engagement to make evidence-informed decisions about the requirement for a long term investment.
