Impact Stories
Stronger Military Families
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Meet Theresa Roy, a Crisis Responder at Kids Help Phone and Operations Manager at Military Family Services. As someone who has been part of a military family, Theresa recognizes the struggle that children and spouses of those who serve go through each day. To provide mental health support to military families, True Patriot Love partnered …
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To five-year-old Dylan, Master Corporal Blake Lakewood is a superhero and the best father in the whole entire world. Whenever Dylan needs him, he is always there. But on Sept. 17, 2019 MCpl. Lakewood was deployed. Deployment was an unfamiliar concept for Dylan and brought up emotions that were difficult to express. But one day …
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See how the power of sport helped heal this military family.
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Prince Edward Island Military Family Resource Centre (PEI MFRC) has a long standing history of providing military and Veteran families with support in their times of need. For Christine Gordon Manley’s family, that support has proved vital. A self-employed editor who works from home, Christine has been married to Major Allan Manley for 16 years, …
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Camp Maple Leaf is a non-profit camp for children of Canadian military families and children living with unique challenges. Beyond that however, it is a place that children can call “home base”. Centered around providing children with a place of connection and support, Camp Maple Leaf hosts a variety of sessions that target a number …
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Ben Miller joined the military 6 months after his twin brother in 2004. This was partially due to sibling rivalry but also because he wanted a challenge. However, his brother wasn’t the only military member in the family. Ben’s family is full of military members — Ben grew up listening to stories of his great-grandfather …
Well-being and Mental Health
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Team Rubicon was inspired by the idea that veterans can continue to serve by leveraging skills, training and experience gained through military service to support disaster response. Team Rubicon initially sought to build on two thoughts: charitable disaster relief needs to be faster to anticipate and respond effectively to humanitarian needs, and veteran reintegration into …
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Sergeant (Retired) Timothy Wedesweiler knows first-hand the impact of transitioning out of the military. Tim lost a good friend who took his own life after struggling to adapt following retirement from service. He is left wondering if the right support could have resulted in a different outcome. Tim is newly retired, and joined a program …
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Sergeant Brad Jones participated in the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) program through the 4 Wing Military Family Resource Centre Society. The program helped Brad intervene when a few of his colleagues were at risk of taking their own lives, and also allowed him to get help for his own mental health challenges. Help …
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Since 2009, True Patriot Love Foundation has committed $28 million in funding to 825 community-based programs across Canada, like the Canadian Adaptive Snow Sports National Capital Division. Through skiing, the program empowers injured military members and Veterans to live a healthy and productive lifestyle, improving their wellbeing, mental health and self-esteem. The program also integrates …
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Master Corporal (Retired) Jeff A. received lifechanging support thanks to True Patriot Love’s funding of the Veterans Transition Program. Offered by the Veterans Transition Network, this program is run by specially trained psychologists, counsellors and graduates of the program and provides participants with group therapy sessions and tools to manage the unique challenges related to …
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See how this military family is healing their service-related PTSD.
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Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, Landing Strong It was September of 2020 when Paul Vardy (Ret’d Captain Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Officer), decided to join group therapy with the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia’s Landing Strong program. The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia is one of the 2021 recipients of the Bell …
Rehabilitation and Recovery
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Meet Erin The magic to our cream-filled croissants is the right ratio of croissant and filling. Ours has been perfected and we are always rotating flavours and trying new things: this week is Nutella, my personal favourite is lemon. My husband Sean and I run this bakery ourselves: he does the baking and back-of-house and …
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Meet Erica I was a soldier for 25 years with specialty qualifications in combat diving, parachuting, and mountain operations. Going underwater to blow things up. Jumping out of planes to go blow things up. Instructor in Combat Diving, Urban Operations, and Close Quarter Combat. I’ve done tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and Haiti. I’ve been first …
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Meet Warrant Officer (Retired) Levi Bradley From a young age, Levi knew they wanted to be around people and make a difference. Following in their grandfather’s footsteps who was in the merchant navy, Levi joined the military in 1990 as a reservist in the combat arms in the artillery. After completing their training, their interest …
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True Patriot Love has helped change the lives of over 25,000 military and Veteran families. Families like the Trauners. With our help, they’re working toward Mike’s dream of competing in the 2020 Paralympics.
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Watch how the Invictus Games helped former Team Canada co-captain regain control of her life.
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Growing Up As children we grow up with aspirations we hold dear, things we’d like to accomplish when we’re older. For Desi Cozier, this dream became a reality when he joined the Navy as a weapons engineer. He thought about joining the military before, but didn’t know how. During his search for an electronic engineering …
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Dave Carney served in the military from 1963 to 1991 as a military engineer, before retiring at the rank of Colonel. Following that, he served in the federal government for 12 years and then consulted for another five years before retiring. He recalls his years in the military as being some of the most …
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Natalie Lela Madeline Pye-Keenan served in the Canadian Army as a Mobile Support Equipment Operator with postings in Gagetown, Borden, and Petawawa. Natalie competed in the Invictus Games in The Hague. I was a last-minute addition to the team roster in the Invictus Games and I hadn’t met any of the other competitors until training …
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Jeremy Blair joined the military at 23 in search of meaning and purpose. During his 23-year military career, he served in the infantry and went on five deployments, including Kosovo in 1999; CFS Alert in 2001-2002; and completed three tours in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2007. Despite the heartbreaking outcome in Afghanistan, he was proud …
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Commander (retired) James Strickland comes from a military family. His great-grandfather was a pilot in WWI, before Canada had an Air Force, and survived after being shot down in France. His father, and his father’s brother, bravely served in WWII. James joined the CAF in 1986. Over time, his career took him on a progressively …
Connecting with Community
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Master Corporal (Retired) Natalie Forcier fought through mental health challenges following her medical release from the military. Natalie was chosen to participate as a Veteran in the True Patriot Love Women’s Expedition to Baffin Island and received valuable mentorship that gave her the courage to launch her business to help Veterans in need. This is …
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What Is Soldiers in Tech? Soldiers in Tech aims to help Veterans transition to civilian life by providing them with technical skills, training workshops and courses. Once Veterans have completed the program, they’ll be job-ready and will be connected to employment opportunities in their areas of training. The Roland Gossage Foundation partners with Lighthouse Labs …
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Finding Support Jay Renaud enlisted in the CAF at 17 and served for 13 years. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 where an IED injured him and took the lives of two of his crewmates. Despite being injured, he provided lifesaving first aid to another crewmate. Jay received the Medal of Military Valour by …
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“Our souls crave connection and belonging …” Are you familiar with the term ‘pepper potting’? It’s a military maneuver used when advancing for advancing toward the enemy. The idea is that when you move ahead, I cover you. And then I move ahead, and you cover me. Kind of like leap frogging. So no matter …