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Welcome to Communitas (formerly MSCM)
Communitas uses restorative justice principles to assist the reintegration of those who have been in prison. By assisting reintegration, Communitas works to reduce recidivism thereby enhancing community safety. We enjoy the support of Correctional Service Canada (CSC), Montreal Community Chaplaincy (Aumô...
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Communitas CoSA
Since introducing Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) to Quebec in 2000, Communitas has accompanied dozens of men using the Circle model, to the considerable benefit of all, those being accompanied in their safe reintegration, volunteers, and our larger community. Under the name of MSCM CoSA P...
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Open Door
What is Open Door? You could say it’s a place to chill, to forget about the rest of your day, a good temporary absence from prison or a chance to get out of the halfway house. Or you could be more formal and say it’s a reintegration activity where inmates who are nearing the end of their sentence and thos...
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Volunteers: The Generation of Inspiration
The transition from prison life to life in the community is a difficult one and offenders benefit from the support they receive from Communitas volunteers. Community support is one of the primary factors for ex-offenders successfully reintegrating and maintaining a crime-free lifestyle. Students, professio...
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Restorative Justice
Justice Storytelling Quilt, Meaghan O’Shea and the Church Council on Justice and Corrections (2005) What is Restorative Justice? Restorative Justice is a non-adversarial, non-retributive approach to justice that emphasizes healing in victims, meaningful accountability of offenders and the involvement of c...
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Community Building within Communitas
Following the initiative of Dr. Bob Roberts, the founder of Project Return in Louisiana, in offering community building experience in a Louisiana prison, we have offered to date four community building workshops in local CSC institutions. Dr. Bob Roberts served as a facilitator in the first of these at Cowa...
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Person to Person Inreach Program
Communitas inherited P2 when Marie Beemans joined us some 11 years ago. Marie was a prime mover in P2 (Person to Person) which through the dedication of a handful of people ensured that some of the most isolated prisoners had regular visits. The ‘person-to-person’ focus has shifted slightly (given muc...
Featured
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Communitas welcomes new funding for CoSA
Communitas Montreal is very pleased with the announced funding for Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) across Canada by Federal…
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Putting prisoners on a path back to society
Sr. Phyllis Douillard admits she had reservations when she retired from teaching to work with prisoners.
“When I first started…
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Happiness is in the air at Open Door
Happiness was the topic at Open Door this past week. Thirty participants were asked to think about something that…
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Prisons try to cut costs with new menu, ombudsman says
A program aimed at cutting the cost of feeding federal prisoners has achieved only “dubious” savings while sparking racial tensions…
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Forgiving her father's murderer
A moving podcast of how Margot Van Sluyman came to forgive the man who murdered her father, an example of…
Open Door
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Open Door
What is Open Door? You could say it’s a place to chill, to forget about the rest of your…
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Happiness is in the air at Open Door
Happiness was the topic at Open Door this past week. Thirty participants were asked to think about something that…
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Another Night at Open Door
by Michelle
Slogging through the snow on a cold Tuesday evening, I am on my way to another Open Door…
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’40 Daily Acts & Peace Quotes’
Open door last week focused on Martin Luther King, whose birthday had just been celebrated. It was a fairly small…
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Martin Luther King
Open door last week focused on Martin Luther King, whose birthday had just been celebrated. It was a fairly small…
The Sou'Wester
National Association Gives CoSA a Stronger, Unified Voice in Canada
A recent conference call between two dozen representatives and supporters marked the birth of a new national…
Other Post
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MSCM receives 50% more than in 2013
February 09, 2015 -
Prison Chaplaincy 2014 - Cowansville Institution
November 08, 2014 -
Prisoner’s Privacy Rights
October 27, 2014 -
In Person Profile: Laura
July 05, 2014
Joelle says:
Wonderful to see that Communitas is getting the attention it deserves! I hope people see this and are inspired to support and get involved with this life-changing organization.Laura Lorenzetti says:
It is very sad that the diagnosis of dementia was not made earlier in the case of Francis McLaughlin. He could have received help, such as, appropriate medication as well as support. Moreover, he might have been able to spend his last days in a centre for persons who suffer from this debilitating disease instead of in a prison cell. I do hope that CSC has learned from this case.ANDREA RATTRAY says:
Hi Mich: It sounds so warm and welcoming. A warm haven in a wintery city. Love, AndiCaroline Dyche says:
Thanks for sharing Michele... your post 'Another night at Open Door' really makes the point about the caring and fellowship that characterize the sessions...Jean marc Bougie says:
An Eye for An Eye: What is the true impact of punishment? November 16, 2016, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Our University of the Streets Café public conversations are much like any you’d have with friends or family around a dinner table, except with more people, more points of view, and slightly more structure. Conversations are hosted by a volunteer moderator who is there to welcome everyone and keep things on track. To get things started, there’s a guest, or sometimes two, who get the ball rolling by sharing their ideas, experiences and questions. After that, it's all up to the participants. Is punishment part of the human DNA; is it cultural or due to religious teachings ? Who provides the power to punish ? What if there is no benefit to punishment ? Does incarceration result in meaningful redress of committed crimes or does it lead perpetrators to change their ways? This conversation will consider the impact of a punishment approach and the sorts of community-based and dialog-based alternatives that some would propose to it. Have we meaningfully progressed away from penal law and the need to rule by threat of violence? What is the historical grounding of our modern solutions to crime and how to we subtly perpetuate them through a variety of social systems (parenting, education, health-care)? To what extent can compassion lead us to support people who have been excluded from society and turn to crime as a result? Guest: Jean Marc Bougie is third of a family of 4 boys. He holds diplomas in Legal Sciences (UQAM) and in Theology (St. Paul University). His professional background is in work relations and communications management. He was incarcerated for 4 years for an economic crime. He is involved in his community as a meal delivery volunteer, in accompanying former inmates and he assists isolated and socially excluded individuals in filling tax forms and similar documents. Marie Beemans is a supporter of prisoner rights and an advocate for prison reform. She was born in New Liskard, ON in 1933 and first visited a penitentiary in 1950. She holds a BA in Sociology (Concordia University) and an MA in Criminology (Université de Montréal). She is a member of the Montreal Southwest Community Ministries. From 1983-1986 she coordinated the national campaign against the return of the death penalty. Since 1991 she has opened her home to federal prisoners in transition. Moderator: Jimmy Ung has worked at the intersections of education, culture, politics, policy development and community engagement. He has held positions at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the Canadian Parliament, as well as with international charity Free The Children. Passionate about learning from people, Jimmy has also ridden a motorcycle across the Americas, conducting photo interviews with 150 individuals in the 18 countries he visited, for which he recently self-published a book titled "Americano". Where Café L’Artère 7000 Parc ave Cost This event is free Organizer Alex Megelas Organization University of the Streets Cafe Website http://www.concordia.ca/univcafeWithout prison chaplains, support programs will disintegrate - Communitas says:
[…] to Tim Smart’s letter, I happen to be just one of those volunteers who work with part-time English-speaking prison […]