It’s been just over a year since tears in the eyes of some participants at a Remembrance Day ceremony at Toronto’s Scott Mission alerted Ontario Command to the problem of homeless veterans. Since then more than 100 have been identified and dozens given a helping hand through Operation Leave the Streets Behind, a partnership of The Royal Canadian Legion’s Ontario Command, Veterans Affairs Canada, Good Shepherd Ministries and other Toronto-area hostels, shelters and agencies that help the homeless.

“The program is voluntary,” Ontario Command President Ed Pigeau said at a Toronto press conference. “Those who want to leave the streets behind have only to ask.”

When they do, the Legion becomes an advocate for the veteran, working with partner agencies to offer early support while VAC explores eligibility for its programs. The program is “a bridge between the street and a better life for those who honourably served our country,” said Pigeau.

The community has come together “to be part of a real solution to help veterans reclaim a life of dignity and hope,” said Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn. “When we become aware of a homeless veteran we offer support through our programs and other available community resources. But how do we find these men and women who have no phone number, no address, no home?” Identifying homeless veterans is a strength of the partnership, he said.

In the spring of 2010, the Legion wrote letters to 16 Toronto-area shelters inquiring if there were veterans among their clientele. The Salvation Army said four or five had used their facilities in the last couple of years. The Good Shepherd Ministries surveyed 669 clients and found 65 with military service.

“Our heroes have given everything for us to enjoy freedom,” said Brother David Lynch, executive director of the Good Shepherd Ministries. “It’s shameful [some] now live on the streets.”

No one knows the number of homeless veterans, but a 2009 Toronto street-needs assessment found 5,086 homeless people on the streets, in shelters, in health-care and treatment facilities and detention centres. Hundreds of them could have served in the military (Vanishing Veterans, November/December).

Posters have gone up in shelters and other agencies asking those who served in the military to identify themselves to staff members. By Remembrance Day 2010, about two dozen homeless veterans had already been assisted, reports Ontario Command Secretary Dave Gordon. “We try to help them as best we can,” he said, beginning with making sure their basic needs are met as they begin the process of applying for benefits from VAC or provincial or community agencies.

The partners of Operation Leave the Streets Behind will create a process to identify homeless veterans as well as those at risk of homelessness, said Blackburn. It will help veterans based on individual needs and identify and close gaps between VAC and community programs. To facilitate quick action, VAC has located a social worker at Good Shepherd Ministries.

Veterans with service-related health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder and other operational stress injuries, may qualify for a range of benefits and support services under the New Veterans Charter, including medical care, health-care benefits, disability benefits, counselling, financial support and help finding a job. All post-Korean War veterans fall under the New Veterans Charter. Veterans from the Second World War and Korean War are covered by the Pension Act.

Many homeless and near homeless veterans have qualified for VAC’s rehabilitation program, which is designed to help a veteran overcome physical or mental health problems caused by military service that have made it difficult to re-enter civilian life.

Qualifying homeless veterans receive earnings loss benefits that provide an income while medical, psychological and vocational issues are addressed. They may also receive a disability award, a one-time, tax-free cash award in compensation for non-economic impacts, such as pain and suffering, of a service-related disability.

Veterans who do not qualify for VAC programs are referred to the appropriate provincial and community service agencies.

“There should not be one homeless veteran in Canada,” Dominion President Pat Varga said at the press conference. The project will be closely watched to see if there are aspects that can be used in other provinces or territories to help homeless veterans. “We need to ensure there’s a safety net out there for them.”

The partnership is growing, reports Gordon. The Ontario Command Ladies Auxiliary has come on board, providing funds and comfort kits containing toiletries, socks, hats and mittens for distribution to homeless veterans. Gordon reports individual branches in Ontario and other provincial commands have already been in contact for information. A branch in Timmins is supporting a veteran who has gone back to school, providing books and computer memory sticks, among other things.

Operation Leave the Streets Behind is now the charity of choice for Ontario Command, replacing the RCL Troop Morale Fund, which has funds enough to supply every deployed soldier with a coffee and a doughnut every two weeks until the combat mission in Afghanistan ends later this year. The provincial command has established a homeless veterans’ assistance fund and ensured that poppy funds may be used to aid homeless veterans.

“There’s a lot of satisfaction when you can help,” said Gordon. He shared comments from one veteran who had been homeless for about a decade who has regained his life, his family, his self-image. “I’m a person again,” the veteran said.