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Valcartier Military Family Resource Centre: An Inspiration to Europe

On 23 September 2009, Valcartier Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) Executive Director Marie-Claude Michaud travelled to Stockholm to attend the first European conference bringing together different European Christian Home Organizations for the Services (ECHOS) organizations.

Representatives from these organizations and from many of their chains of command shared their experiences and the best practices they have learned while carrying out their new mandate to provide support to military families. Attendees included representatives from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Great Britain and Denmark as well as Marie-Claude, their special guest from Canada.   

“In most of these countries, services to military families are not developed or barely starting,” says Marie-Claude. “Therefore, all information on the services that we provide and how we deliver them is of great interest to them.”

Marie-Claude received an invitation to the conference based on a lasting good impression. During an official visit to the Valcartier MFRC about five years ago, members of a Swedish brigade were surprised to learn that services were being provided to the spouses, children and even parents of Canadian Forces personnel. They were even more surprised to see that these same family members played a direct role in the decision-making process used to tailor services to meet their needs.

This experience sparked the interest of the Swedish Soldiers’ Homes Association Secretary General, Mr. Björn Rubenson. After finding out more about the MFRC, it became clear to him that Valcartier’s expertise needed to be shared at the conference.

Congratulations to the Valcartier MFRC and community for playing a leading role in the delivery of military family services.

Click here to read the Maple Leaf article about Marie-Claude’s experience representing the Military Family Services Program in Stockholm.