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Seasons Greetings from DMFS

As we near the end of the twentieth anniversary celebration of the Military Family Services Program and ready ourselves to embark on a New Year, let's take a moment to collectively celebrate this significant milestone.

We've made great strides this past year.  We've made it easier for all Canadian Forces (CF) families to access local and national information, resources and services through the FamilyForce website, as well as through the expanded Family Information Line.  Families are enjoying online language training, a national referral service, psycho-educational resources … and are reaching out to our trained, supportive Family Information Line counsellors when they need help to navigate the bureaucracy or need to be connected to their Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC).  We've also increased our communication efforts as a means of sharing different perspectives and keeping each other better informed.

We've worked hard locally and nationally to be particularly attuned to the most vulnerable in our communities.  Military Family Resource Centre staff were offered increased training opportunities to strengthen delivery of mental health services.  Families of the fallen, through Shoulder to Shoulder, are now assured compassionate, comprehensive and enduring support, and the FamilyForce website and Military Family Resource Centres are important contributors in this effort.  We have witnessed the introduction of more MFRC Family Liaison Officers across the CF, and these skilled practitioners are now significantly contributing to our work with the families of the ill and injured. 

Together, we can say with confidence that we've built a responsive Program that we can all be proud of.  The Military Family Services Program is respected and recognized not only within the CF, but internationally as well.  In fact, in the past year Director Military Family Services' staff have given briefings about the Program to a number of visiting international military contingents, and we've had the opportunity to share our work with dignitaries and senior military staff from as far away as Australia, France, Columbia, Poland and Russia.

In the past year, I personally have had the privilege to visit a number of Military Family Resource Centres, including Valcartier, Kingston, Toronto, the National Capital Region, Cold Lake, and Halifax.  I have been humbled by the extraordinary talents and dedication of the staff and volunteers who deliver services to CF families each and every time I've stepped foot into a centre.  My visits have reminded me yet again just how different each community is and how important it is that services for families be tailored and driven by the specific needs of each community.

We, at Director Military Family Services, continue to count on your local perspectives to ensure that families have the services and support they require, and that you continue to share with us the most pressing needs of your communities.

The New Year will no doubt bring us new opportunities and challenges.  I strongly believe that we will rise to the occasion for increased collaboration between DMFS and MFRCs, as well as from centre to centre, as Brigadier-General Bigelow challenged us during the last Director's Forum teleconference.  In some cases, it might just be a question of perspective, shifting the lens somewhat and taking a second look at the way we've been doing things, or perhaps it's just a matter of creating more opportunities within our communities.

On behalf of the staff at the Directorate, I want to thank you for your individual contributions towards the well-being of families and wish you the very best this holiday season.  Take pride in the important work you do and take time to celebrate with the people who mean the most to you. 

Enjoy the spirit of the season,
Celine