The $500,000 the federal government announced this week that it was allocating to help fund the Guitars for Vets program will go towards what Debbie Lowther describes as their cross-country tour which allows them to put guitars in the hands of more veterans. Lowther says there are guitar instructors in different locations across the country and the federal government funding will provide100 veterans with 10 lessons each. The sign up is on-line and Lowther says they’ve been asked why are the instructors in different parts of the country, ” Maybe the veterans will meet somebody else in their area, that they’ll get that peer support outside of the guitar”.

VETS Canada is not a government organization but a grassroots initiative started in 2010 by veteran Jim Lowther. Debbie Lowther says they have a national director that keeps everything organized but it is a federally registered non-profit charity with hundreds of dedicated volunteers across the country, most of who are ex-military/RCMP.

She says in 2014-15 there were a string of back to back suicides of veterans and her husband felt compelled to help. She said the guitar had helped him deal with his own PTSD and put out a call for people to donate guitars and put out a call for volunteer instructors so the program became a free guitar and 10 free lessons.

VETS Canada has evolved from mostly assisting homeless veterans to also providing support to those facing difficulties of any kind. That could mean the inability to afford groceries or a power bill, or an emotional or mental health crisis. Their website indicates, to date, they have helped 984 veterans find housing, they have 1,443 active volunteers, and have helped 4,554 veterans overall.