Veteran Family Day proclaimed

Thursday was a big day for the Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) as the 2nd annual Veteran Family Day was held.

Tina Thomason is the Veteran Family Program Coordinator. She says they serve as a buffer when military members make the transition to post military life.

“They come from an environment where things are close knit and it’s all about team work and then when they’re released they often feel very alone,” she says.

She says the family is the first place military members turn to when they start that new life and they in turn need an important place to turn to for support and that’s when the Veteran Family program comes in.

Thomason says they provide a lot of services to military members and their families.

“A huge suite of services including employment support, education support, child care, personal enrichment and emergency and respite child care,” she says.

She told BayToday the local program started as a pilot project in 2015 and is now across the country.

North Bay Mayor Al McDonald proclaimed Thursday as Veteran Family Day in North Bay.

Thomason says the local program servies military members and their families across the north including in Sudbury, Timmins and the Sault.

(photo courtesy Chris Dawson BayToday)

(photo is of Tessa Clermont, exectutive director MFRC)