Coming up this weekend in 14 cities across Canada, veterans and civilians are walking to raise awareness of the challenges faced by those who serve our country and the challenges they continue to face after coming home. The Canadian Walk For Veterans is organized by the True Patriot Love Foundation, Canada’s national military foundation.

In Saskatchewan, the walk is taking place on Sunday in Prince Albert with net proceeds going to the River Valley Resilience Retreat. Co-founder of the retreat, Michelle McKeaveney, says the retreat is a safe space for veterans and their families, and for all first responders, public safety personnel, medical workers, and journalists who may have experienced trauma related to their jobs.

Along with retreats on a 25-and-a-half-acre space near St. Louis, which was bought with the help of an anonymous donor, McKeaveney says they help people before and after they are officially diagnosed with an operational stress injury.  They can help guide them through the Workers Compensation Board process and she stresses that River Valley Resilience Retreat provides a safe space for people to come and ground themselves and reset.

McKeaveney says, “A lot of the younger families don’t know what the sacrifice was, don’t know what it still is in some of these men’s brains, and women’s brains that they carry through, and that’s what we want to honour. It’s not the fact that they gave up a certain time in their life to serve. Some of them are still serving in their brain because they’re haunted.”

If you are in the Prince Albert area, you can join the walk on Sunday with registration beginning at noon at Kinsmen Park. The walk begins at 1 p.m. and you can also register ahead of time, by clicking on the link with this story online, and even if you can’t make it to the walk, you can support the River Valley Resilience Retreat by registering and walking where you are.