Speaker Introduction by Shail: Born and raised in Vancouver, Allen was elected as a five-term Vancouver Park Board Commissioner from 1993 to 2008. He was deeply involved in the devastating Windstorm Clean up* and has a long association with the Chinatown Business Association.
*The 2006 storm that destroyed a section of Vancouver’s iconic Stanley Park with hurricane-force winds that ripped through and levelled 41 hectares of forest. On Dec. 15, 2006, the park, boasts old growth conifers several centuries old, lost more than 10,000 trees.
In 2017, Allan was appointed by the Minister of Defence as a 3rd Canadian Division Honorary Lieutenant - Colonel with the Canadian Forces 15th Field Artillery Regiment (RCA). With this position, he is working to help bridge the gap between the military and the society it defends.
He is the founding member and President of the Honour House Society, a non-profit that began 10 years ago. The facilities are a refuge and a home away from home for Canadian Forces personnel, first responders like police, paramedics and firefighters, and their families.
A SERVICE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS AND MILITARY PERSONNEL
Honour house and Honour Ranch are places to stay while healing occurs. At these two facilities, personnel from high stress positions can find help to recover knowing that, at a place close by, a degree of family life can be maintained.
Honour Houseis located in New Westminster and Honour Ranchis located near Cache Creek. The facilities are available to those struggling with PTSD and other conditions that need special intervention and time for healing. Their services are also available to volunteers who work with the military and first responders; in fact they are accessible to all front-line-serving personnel.
Funding for the facilities and their personnel comes from an endowment set up for this purpose. The facilities are run, between 75-80%, by volunteers. Professional medical and other necessary service providers are paid by the various agencies to which personnel are attached.
The facilities and their services are relatively new and Col. De Genova would appreciate Rotarians throughout the region to letting others know that this service is available at no cost to all men and women who access them due to the stress of their work in the military or as first responders.
As he says, we have lost too many good people to suicide due to PTSD and work-related stress.
HONOUR HOUSE IN NEW WESTMINSTER
HONOUR RANCH IN CACHE CREEK