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The Royal Canadian Legion Teams Up with DMFS

The Royal Canadian Legion is reaching out to modern veterans, military members and families through a new partnership with Director Military Family Services (DMFS).

Though the two organizations have always been friendly, the Legion and DMFS are now solidifying their relationship and encouraging collaboration, information sharing and new partnerships at the local and national levels.

“We feel that it is a necessity to come together,” says Pierre Allard, Director of the Legion Service Bureau. “We see how military family service organizations are transforming, and we want to make sure the Legion is part of that evolution.”

Partnerships between local Legion branches and Military Family Resource Centres (MFRCs) are already well underway in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Alberta and British Columbia. By strengthening their relationship with the Legion, MFRCs have learned more about the Legion’s services, so they have better information to share at their Centres. Many MFRCs have also gained a community-friendly space to hold family information sessions. In turn, Legion branches have enjoyed spreading the word about their programs for youth, seniors and the wider community with a new generation of military families.

Reaching out to the younger generation is a big part of the Legion’s desire for partnership. Mr. Allard hopes that through outreach, the traditional conception of the Legion will shift to recognize that the Legion serves veterans of all ages, including those with military service in more recent operations such as Afghanistan.

“Young people are becoming what we call the ‘modern veterans’— those who’ve served today, not in World War II,” he says. “We need to put a greater focus on informing these younger families that we’re out there to support them.”

“The Legion has a footprint in every community in the country,” adds Andrea Siew, Service Officer for the Legion’s Dominion Command. “And we’ve seen great outreach partnerships with MFRCs locally. Now, we want to take the next step and reinforce our partnership with DMFS at the national level.”

“We’re very pleased to be working with the Legion to strengthen our partnership,” says Celine Thompson, DMFS. “By working together, we can ensure that military personnel, veterans and families have services available to them wherever they may live.”

To kick off the national partnership, the Legion is inviting select DMFS and MFRC staff to participate in its regional Service Officer training sessions in September and October 2009 in St. John’s and Vancouver, respectively. 

By including those who work in military family services, the Legion hopes that MFRC and DMFS staff will be able to share what they do with new Service Officers while learning about the services and support the Legion offers. Mr. Allard and Ms. Siew also hope the initiative will encourage further partnerships between local Legion branches and MFRCs.

“By learning more about each other, we’ll be able to give more informed referrals between organizations and look for new ways we can work together,” says Ms. Siew.

Visit http://www.legion.ca for more information.