Chatham-Kent police are looking to partner with the Wounded Warriors of Canada (WWC) to take advantage of its programs.
The WWC is a national mental health charity whose mission is to honour and support ill or injured armed forces members, veterans, first responders and their families.
Executive director of the WWC, Scott Maxwell, gave the police services board a presentation Tuesday morning. Maxwell outlined the services the organization provides along with the benefits those who enlisted have gained from attending them.
Maxwell said the organization has been teaming up with first responders in communities across the country. Chatham-Kent police chief, Gary Conn, proposed that not only the local police service partner with the WWC, but that the fire department, EMS and local military should as well.
"I am a member of the Essex-Kent Scottish Regiment and I know the [Commander] Lieutenant-Colonel John Hodgins very well," Conn said. "I was going to reach out to him as well, but again, all four agencies are local so that was going to my recommendation."
Maxwell said partnerships are created easily and come at no expense to the organization or the members looking to for help.
"It is good PR, but it is also the right thing to do," Maxwell said. "It says 'we're standing with our members, we care about their health.' Our programs also deal with the family component, which is often forgot about. With mental health injuries, when the person comes home, we know what that can do to a marriage or to a home. Sometimes it is very tragic."
Maxwell said while military members seeking programs will stay separate, he didn't want to separate first responders within their own organizations. The executive director said he found that regardless of what colour the uniform is, the trauma tended to be the same.
Conn said the three programs offered of most interest to his detachment are the Co-op, Trauma Resiliency, and Before Operational Stress (BOS).
According to Maxwell, the WWC also has a partnership with Via Rail, so any members, and their families, who need to commute to a program won't be charged for travel, housing or food -- the entire trip will be covered.
While no agreement was signed at the board meeting Tuesday, Conn said he will meet with the other agencies with the hope to make the partnership official soon.
Anyone looking for more information on the Wounded Warriors of Canada programs can check out their website.