MFRC teams up with local libraries 

Paul Dagonese, 
Lookout staff 

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New Deployment, Absence & Relocation Literacy Kits for Families

The Esquimalt and Comox Military Family Resource Centres (MFRC) have recently collaborated with Greater Victoria Public Library (GVPL) and Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) to make literacy kits available for military children and families to provide support for the challenging issues of deployment, absence and relocation.

Kathleen Cormie, Programs Coordinator at Esquimalt MFRC, initiated this venture with local libraries. Working on the front line for 13 years interacting with military families while being a mom and military spouse herself, she recognized how these Absence, Moving and Relocation  Literacy Kits can serve a real concern.

“What we see in our workshops and in research is that talking, validating, and processing feelings with children is helpful,” she said. “Sitting down with a parent and acknowledging having mom or dad away is hard, and finding ways to connect through story is a really good bonding act for parent or caregiver and child.”

Cormie added that a military child being able to talk about their feelings increases well-being and particularly helps them feel more connected to the parent at home.

Each kit includes several books chosen by GVPL, VIRL, and MFRC staff. Some kits also include games, puppets, and feelings cards to complement the stories and make the experience more interactive.

As part of this initiative, the MFRC aims to establish an outreach program with local schools to encourage teachers to integrate these kits into their curriculum. Cormie recently visited Sooke schools during Remembrance Day activities, a time where one of the largest ships, HMCS Ottawa, was deployed.

“That’s a lot of families, a lot of kids,” she said.

Cormie met with children who had parents posted to that ship. She believes teacher awareness and the use of these kits, especially at times like this, are important.

“Having that as a normalized situation for a military child can be useful because they are often isolated in their experience. Other children often don’t understand what it means to have another parent away,” Cormie said.

At the Juan De Fuca GVPL Branch, Joe Melanson, a Library Services Librarian, is part of the Emergent Literacy Portfolio that provides literacy services to children up to five years old and echoes the library’s passion to support the MFRC with their literacy initiative.

“With the library as a resource, we can help make connections with military families in the area,” he said. “This can be great for people, especially those new to the area. Just getting outreach to them is something we’ve been working on; and Kathleen has been helpful with that.”

In 2023 – the MFRC initiated the partnership with GVPL and VIRL. Creating accessibility for users was a key initiative as making it to the MFRC location is not always convenient. Families at CFB Esquimalt and CFB Comox can access the new literacy kits at GVPL and VIRL sites. Families can put the kit on hold, have it delivered to their local branch, and borrow it for three weeks from VIRL locations and up to six weeks from GVPL locations.

For families who are local to the Esquimalt MFRC location in Colwood, these literacy kits act as a great supplement to the Supporting Children Through Absence Workshop, offering specialized engagement for children aged 3 to 12 who are experiencing challenges related to military work-related absence.

For more information on these literacy kits, reach out to your local GVPL or VIRL branch or visit esquimaltmfrc.com.