Today, thousands of Canadian Armed Forces families rely on Military Family Resource Centres throughout Canada, but it all started with five women in Penhold.
Mary Anne Jablonski, a Penhold 5 co-founder, will share her story as a guest speaker at the Yellow Ribbon Gala, a fundraiser, for CFB Winnipeg’s Military Family Resource Centre on Saturday.
The former Red Deer North MLA, was a military spouse after her husband Cpl. Bob Jablonski, a radar technician, was posted to Penhold, in late 1980.
In 1984, she and four other women who lived in Penhold, Lucy Richardson, Leslie Taylor, Gail Siford, Susan Kerr advocated for support and resources for military families.
Jablonski said military spouses didn’t have very many resources back then. For example, having to explain to young children why the family was moving or when is daddy coming home. So the group wanted to see a facility where military families could reach out for support: regular programs and recreational services, daycare, and seek resources during crisis.
The group, also known as Organizational Society of Spouses of Military Members (OSSOMM), wanted to see medical and dental programs in place for military families.
“We were told that we didn’t have any rights when we lived on the base and we didn’t accept that at all,” said Jablonski.
She explained the military families were supportive of each other but they didn’t have all the expertise.
The women struggled to bring their dreams to reality for about six months and faced hurdles along the way.
“Our husbands signed away their rights because they were members of the military, but we didn’t sign away our rights.”
After the women got their wish granted in Penhold in 1984, centres started opening up in other regions.
Jablonski said the trend picked up really quickly because “it was obviously something a need for military families.”
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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