Farm in Windsor, N.S., aims to help female veterans transition out of the forces

Volunteers come together to help the Veterans Farm Project start their growing season.

A farm in Windsor, N.S., is looking to help female veterans transition out of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Founded in 2018 by retired sergeant Jessica Miller, the Veteran Farm Project aims to offer a space for women who served to feel comfortable.

“We are a farm that we started to give space to veteran women who were transitioning out of the Canadian forces and didn’t have a space where they felt comfortable to be with other women, so we decided, and I decided because I needed it, I wanted to create a safe and nurturing environment where women could come together, be in nature, spend time together making friends, you know, that they could always come here and they’ll always be safe,” said Miller.

The project also aims to combat food insecurity in the veteran and serving member communities.

“We’ve noticed there’s a lot of food insecurity in the veteran community and serving community, so what we created nine years ago was the We Care Program,” said Miller. “Veterans identify through legions anonymously to us, we would supply them monthly with fresh produce, pantry staples, and bread products, and now we are creating a new project which we have been working on for three years now which is the Honour Garden.”

Miller says the garden is their way of commemorating women who were not recognized for their service due to being volunteers and not veterans.

“We’re also recognizing women who served this country and are not on any memorial site. Their contribution to this country has helped make every part of it work, and with Keller Williams’ help, they have literally put together the farm today with Sunflower Contracting who helped us design it, and it’s been a blessing, we couldn’t have done it without them.”

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