B.C. Rotary club, veterans program to provide mental health support in Ukraine

A Metro Vancouver Rotary club and a program that helps veterans with the mental health impacts due to war are going to be taking their sense of service and their expertise to Ukraine.

The White Rock Rotary Club and the Veterans Transition Program at UBC are teaming up to provide mental health supports to Ukrainians. Today they signed a memorandum of understanding to launch the “Ukraine Trauma Support Initiative."

Tim Laidler, who is with the Institute for Veterans Education and Transition program, says whether its military or civilians, the impact is hard to ignore. Ukrainians have been under siege for nearly 500 days.

"The common denominator is the trauma and living in a high-stress environment on an ongoing basis. That's what our militaries have experienced. That's what I experienced myself in Afghanistan," Laidler explained.

In Ukraine, civilians are stepping up to join the military and the trauma is like a rolling wave. There may be a pause, but the conflict is ever-present.

"They're continually getting bombed. They're continually getting shelled. They don't know what's going to happen with power. There's all sorts of stress on them," said Laidler.

Veterans at the Rotary club also know about the impacts of war. With a focus on mental health supports this year, they're now teaming up with the UBC program to get veterans, counsellors and others on the ground to train up mental health staff in Ukraine. The UBC program has been around more than twenty years.

Bob Sutherland, is a former participant who says he knows what it feels like to be "always on the edge." He plans to travel to Ukraine and is helping the Rotary club with its fundraising efforts.

"I know firsthand, what generational trauma will do to families and if we can hit the first generation, it could nullify that impact,” Sutherland said, adding, "one of the main things was I learned to forgive myself.

Alan Plett, another veteran who plans to help, said after an adrenaline rush there might be a reprieve, but the stress inevitably comes back.

"Eventually the body wears out and there's more down than up," Plett added.

The hope is to give people the training so that when the war ends they can rebuild. That will include physical structures, and communities, as well as emotional healing.