The first thing is that if you're looking specifically for homeless veterans, you have to know who's already engaging with them. Civil society has an incredible number of organizations and volunteers. Here in Ottawa, for example, you have the Shepherds, the Mission, the Salvation Army. You need to be working with those who already have a relationship with the homeless.
If you're specifically trying to identify the military among them—those who wore a uniform—then you need to gain the trust of the folks who are already providing them services. Don't come in and spoil the relationships that already exist between the homeless and those who are sustaining them or trying to help them. Bring value. That's a step.
The second is to work with them to participate in identification of, and connection with, the veteran.
I'll give you the Soldiers Helping Soldiers experience in Ottawa. The patrolling activities done here, for example, would include a volunteer SHS, who happens to be in uniform; an Ottawa Police Service constable, who's a Canadian police officer; a Veterans Affairs caseworker; and a Legion service officer. By working together you get the recognition and can make those connections and then you can accelerate that interconnectedness with a follow-up meeting with a caseworker, with a Legion service officer about helping sort out paperwork so they can apply to VAC. There's no one way, but those are ways.
The real trick for me is communities creating that organizational connectedness up front. Montreal is a bonne example. In Montreal they have created this thing called the Respect Campaign Forum, which invites civil society volunteer organizations and charities that deal with homelessness and mental health issues. Every six months they come together as citizens and collaborate to find out who's doing what, who's providing what services, and what problems or challenges they're having. The ecosystem that is helping deal with homelessness is becoming more connected. Those who are specifically targeting veterans are there.
We attended one in Montreal just a month and a half ago. Soldiers Helping soldiers, Vets Canada, Veterans Affairs Canada, the Legion service officers, shelters, mental health clinics, and street workers were all there. That interconnectedness definitely merits being nurtured in every population centre.
If you could bring the veteran dynamic into that and specifically target how you identify and connect with veterans, the value you add to that would be very powerful.