I've travelled across the country and visited several of the MFRCs. They are doing extremely good work. As we mentioned earlier, we've expanded access to ensure that there is uninterrupted access to these 32 military family resource centres. This goes, again, to closing the seam.
One of the things that Walt and I heard, tangible things about.... I grew up in 5 Wing Goose Bay and the base gym was kind of the centre of life. We didn't have an MFRC there at the time, but we had the gym and the gym is still a huge thing. So it's not just the MFRCs, but suddenly you're released and you can't go to the gym anymore. This sounds small, but it's where you see your buddies, it's where your wife or your husband may go, and sometimes they are involved with day care, children's activities, and those sorts of things. So it's just about getting rid of that abrupt end, which causes so much anxiety and can lead to a lot of other problems when it comes to transition.
The expansion of services at the MFRCs is a $147-million commitment over six years. In addition, I should add, we're putting $22.4 million over three years to better inform people of the services that are there. Some of that is for paid advertising. Some of that we'll get out through social media and general access points.
We're in the middle today. It's unfortunate that both of these events coincide, but that's how it happens. Today we have a full-day homelessness summit at the Delta Hotel, just down the street. We heard video testimony from one veteran who said, “I didn't know that the supports were always there. They just seemed hidden.” I'm not saying that all the answers are already there. It's just that there are a lot of things, unfortunately, that people don't know about. That is a small portion of it, making sure people are aware these things are available. Where there are MFRCs, though, I expect that word will get out very quickly on bases and in surrounding communities.