
River Valley Resilience Retreat celebrated a year of growth in 2024.
The local non-profit was founded in 2019, but didn’t open their current home south of Prince Albert until 2022. Co-founder Michelle McKeaveney said the past year has seen the non-profit become more than just a place for respite.
“(In) summing up our entire year, absolutely lots of infrastructure, lots of developmental, (and) lots of programming has been achieved here, plus our one to one peer support groups and our online peer support group as well,” McKeaveney said.
McKeaveney co-founded the RVRR with Jeff Reeder with the goal of creating a permanent, year-round, safe and secluded space for Public Safety Personnel (PSP) and veterans to rest, relax, and health from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Operational Stress Injury (OSI).
McKeveaney said that over the past year the mission has remained the same but the delivery of services has grown. She said people think of the RVRR as a place that hosts multi-individual retreats. However, she said, the centre has grown to offer much more than that.
“We offer onsite services such as respite for people who just want to come stay at the cabins, (and) get some rest and respite, knowing that they are peer supported (by) trained people who have experienced what they what they’re experiencing,” she explained. “River Valley can host people for their own individual stays and their own individual respite journeys.”
According to McKeaveney, it is also a place that hosts workshops both on and off-site including for SGI as one example.

They also offer a Wellness Program and have contracts with private EMS owners in Saskatchewan to offer private and confidential peer support.
McKeaveney said Reeder finds out what the ongoing needs are, and they work to provide off site corporate wellness programs.
“We customize everything to depend on what their needs are,” she said.
One accomplishment for this year that gives McKeaveney pride is the RVRR Gap Program for Public Safety Personnel in Saskatchewan, which began in January. After a traumatic event, a member can submit a W-1 as a no-lost time injury and be referred to RVRR for follow-up and enrollment in peer support, including ongoing care if necessary. Similarly, any member diagnosed with OSI/PTSI referred to RVRR will receive assistance with their claim and ongoing support throughout their treatment.
“What that means is that anybody who may have been entitled to WCB for their psychological injury or those who are experiencing traumatic events and it’s having a impact on themselves and their families in their lives, they may not know that they are entitled to psychological services from WCB, which now includes us,” she explained.
McKeveaney said many volunteer firefighters who have retired may not be aware they are entitled to supports and services through the WCB for services that they currently pay for with pension money.
“We have one contact at WCB through our gap program we created with them and we are able to streamline their mental health psychological WCB journey now with them and for them,” McKeaveney explained. “It’s helping employers, it’s helping employees and it’s also keeping people intact and hopefully in the workforce.”
She said that the program has had many impressive success stories since it began.
“People have been able to return to their lives, their jobs and their families much better than pre-injury or post injury,” she said.
McKeaveney said that internally they have discussed how to change the perception of RVRR.
“Our message needs to be that, yes, we are a physical location but our physical location is just a small part of what we actually do and what we are doing,” she explained.
“Our goal is to reach out to those people who are struggling with the psychological injury, on WCB currently, or may have access to support that,” she said.
She explained that they have also been able to help veterans and RCMP members understand there are resources available.
“We’re finding benefits (and) remuneration opportunities for people who may not know they’re even entitled. We want them to reach out to us so we can tell them, ‘hey, did you know that you’re entitled to this’ because they probably don’t know,” McKeaveney said.
Reeder said that RVRR is also a great asset during the holiday season, especially if people are resistant to treatment or exhausted all options for treatment.
“The perfect referral is to send them to us and we can help support them … and bridge the gap to the next bit of resources that we can offer them,” Reeder said.
“We did partner with a traumatologist and are seeing major amazing results. That’s going to be the next educational component that we are compiling for the New Year, so there are lots of exciting things in that regard where we’re finding people that have been resistant to treatment, and in just a few sessions are finding amazing results. That’s giving people that sense of hope again.”
Other highlights from their year included advocating at events like the SUMA convention and the visit of then Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty for their second anniversary at their home.
“The biggest key is that River Valley is a one stop Resource Center for RCMP, veterans and public safety personnel,” McKeaveney said. “We have the knowledge and the ability now to be able to support people in ways that they may not even know they’re entitled to, so we would encourage people to reach out to us whether they have a diagnosis or not, that is not what we’re here for, we are here on the prevention side.”