Two community organizations receive funding to support P.E.I. veterans

CHARLOTTETOWN – Two P.E.I. community organizations are receiving federal funding to help improve the lives of minority veterans and their families.

Announced in a Jan. 18 release, the Serene View Ranch in Alexandra and the Lest We Forget Community Veterans Committee in Summerside have been awarded $400,000 each from Veterans Affairs

Canada to create new support programs.

The Serene View Ranch will use the money to develop a stabilization, grounding and resiliency program for Indigenous and women veterans. The individual and community-based trauma treatment program will employ a variety of multidisciplinary and culturally-sensitive treatment approaches.

The Lest We Forget Community Veterans Committee will use the funding to develop a Veteran Success

Centre helping women and LGBTQ2 veterans in P.E.I. learn skills through entrepreneurship and employability programs, employment support services, translation services, career counselling and mentoring services.

"The pandemic has had a real impact on veterans and their families, but the work that organizations like Serene View Ranch and the Lest We Forget Community Veterans Committee are doing is absolutely vital in making sure they have the support they need,” said Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay.

“I'm incredibly proud that we can support these two excellent P.E.I. organizations, and I know they're going to change the lives of a lot of veterans here on the Island."

The funding comes from the Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund, which was established in 2018 to provide financial support to private, public, and academic organizations looking to improve veterans' lives.