Close X
Thursday, October 31, 2024
ADVT 
National

War vet joins B.C. Veterans Village project

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 10 Nov, 2021 10:55 AM
  • War vet joins B.C. Veterans Village project

Canadian war veteran Trevor Greene knows what it's like to navigate treatment after a life-threatening injury, combined with post-traumatic stress, prompting his decision to take on an advising role at the Legion Veterans Village Centre for Excellence in Surrey, B.C.

The non-profit centre set to open next winter will host clinical research studies into rehabilitation and brain health, including post-traumatic stress disorder and other neurological conditions that impact veterans, police officers, paramedics and firefighters.

Led by the BC/Yukon Command of the Royal Canadian Legion, the Whalley Legion Branch 229 and Lark Group, it will also provide affordable housing, market housing and legion facilities.

Greene, who survived being struck in the head with an axe during a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan in 2006, says his experience will help provide the framework for veterans to receive the care and support they need to recover, something he says was missing from his treatment plan over the past 16 years.

"PTSD is exhausting physically, psychologically and mentally," he says. "I'm giving the benefit of my experience and my perspective."

When he returned home, Greene says he received great support and treatment from Veterans Affairs Canada, but still felt emotionally isolated because other veterans weren't part of his rehabilitation team.

"People would sympathize, of course, but they couldn’t get it. We tend to be more comfortable around other veterans (because) you don’t need to explain yourself to them, especially when talking about PTSD,” he says. “This (project) is critical because the models we currently have are outdated and not specific to the veteran community.”

Rowena Rizzotti, project lead of the Legion Veterans Village, says Greene's story inspired the $312-million complex, which was conceptualized in 2015 and broke ground in 2019.

She says its goal is to address challenges first responders and veterans face and provide all necessary health care in one location.

"There are great services out there and there are clinical providers that are doing amazing work, but there isn't always a continuum of care or network of integrated services," she says.

The high rates of mental health disorders and suicide among the first responder and veteran populations drove them to want to make a difference, Rizzotti says.

The project also aims to address veteran homelessness with 91 affordable housing units and another 495 condominiums to be sold at market value.

Dr. Venu Karapareddy, a psychiatrist and founder of Actum Health in Vancouver who specializes in PTSD, mental health and addictions, says he expects this care model will soon serve as a template for veteran and first responder care centres across Canada.

He says it's a unique opportunity to use the latest technology and innovation to positively impact clinical care for first responders and the veteran population.

The mental and physical health systems often work in silos, but this centre would bring all those services together, he said.

Rizzotti says the centre is needed more now than it was when it was conceptualized six years ago, citing the ongoing opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic as the drivers for more mental health supports for first responders.

"We intend to be a single place where veterans and first responders can go and where we can support them on their journey. We plan to link with other partners locally, provincially and nationally (because) we want to bring this entire community together," Rizzotti says.

"We want to be a nucleus that helps to catalyze how we can transform the care and provide better service for this population.”

 

MORE National ARTICLES

VPD investigates South Van home invasion that results in senior assaulted in broad daylight

VPD investigates South Van home invasion that results in senior assaulted in broad daylight
At 4:30 p.m. on October 29, VPD officers were called to a home near East 35th Avenue and Victoria Drive after an unknown man entered the home through the unlocked front door. The 89-year-old home owner was assaulted when he confronted the suspect. The suspect fled before officers arrived.

VPD investigates South Van home invasion that results in senior assaulted in broad daylight

Tories call for Afghan safe house funding

Tories call for Afghan safe house funding
The Conservative opposition is calling on Liberal government to give urgent funding to Kabul safe houses that are providing refuge to 1,700 Afghan interpreters and their families. On Friday, those safe houses are set to close because the money keeping them open will run out.    

Tories call for Afghan safe house funding

Canada joins pledge to end public financing of oil

Canada joins pledge to end public financing of oil
"Canada can lead in the low-carbon world if we keep putting our investments, innovations and brain power behind ambitious climate action," Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in a news release.

Canada joins pledge to end public financing of oil

Moose crashes into Saskatoon classroom

Moose crashes into Saskatoon classroom
Veronica Baker, a spokeswoman for Saskatoon Public Schools, says a before-school program was taking place in the room when the unexpected visitor made its dramatic entrance.

Moose crashes into Saskatoon classroom

Champagne's D.C. takeaway: more meetings

Champagne's D.C. takeaway: more meetings
Champagne says the two sides talked about how to strengthen cross-border supply chains, the potential role of Canada's critical-minerals industry and meeting shared climate goals.

Champagne's D.C. takeaway: more meetings

BC Wildfire Service releases 2021 wildfire summary

BC Wildfire Service releases 2021 wildfire summary
A 2021 wildfire summary says about $565 million was spent in the "tremendously challenging" period between April 1 and Sept. 30, when 1,610 wildfires charred 8,682 square kilometres, mainly in southern and southeastern B.C.

BC Wildfire Service releases 2021 wildfire summary