‘There’s a lot of veterans out there that don’t know where to go or what to do’
Cambee Dorrington stops to speak to a man asking for change in downtown Halifax. She recognizes a logo on his hat as a military symbol.
“Are you a veteran?” she asks.
Dorrington and a dozen volunteers are walking down Spring Garden Road in Halifax, all dressed in the same black T-shirts with the slogan “Boots on the Ground.”
They’re looking for veterans in crisis as part of an annual walk with VETS Canada.
“Talking to people like that makes days like today worthwhile,” she says with pamphlets in hand.
The man Dorrington is speaking with has been waiting to go to the food bank. Dorrington tells him her group can help him get some groceries.
“To say we have veterans in Canada that are homeless and don’t know where their next meal is coming from, that shouldn’t be happening.”
It’s a cause that’s close to Dorrington. A veteran herself, she’s been helping with the walk since it started three years ago.
She comes from a military family. Her husband also served and struggles with PTSD.
“There’s a lot of veterans out there that don’t know where to go or what to do. We help them find their way.”
Many homeless vets ‘don’t want to self-identify’
Veterans Emergency Transition Services (VETS) Canada is a national charity founded in Halifax by Jim Lowther, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces who was struggling with PTSD.
This year, the annual Coast to Coast Tour of Duty took place in 21 cities across the country.
The aim of the walk is to provide immediate assistance to veterans in need, according to Shawn Hambley, the Nova Scotia field operations manager for VETS Canada.
“A lot of people don’t want to self-identify and say they are a veteran,” says Hambley, who also serves on HMCS Charlottetown in Halifax.
“So the big thing is getting that dialogue going, and getting people to say, ‘Yes, I am a veteran, I do want some help.’ And we’ll step in and do it right away.”
That help could be finding a shelter, connecting them with Veterans Canada services, looking for employment, or even just getting a hot meal.
The walk also serves another purpose for the general public.
“There are still a lot of people who don’t know there are homeless veterans in Canada. It’s a big pill for some people to swallow,” he says.
Hambley says last year alone, the group received nearly 2,000 calls from veterans across Canada — and the types of people aren’t what you’d expect.
“We’re seeing a lot of female veterans, people with young families. It’s not necessarily someone who served 30 years in the military,” he says.
“I help people that are my age in their 20s, people in their 80s, and everywhere in between.”
