Communitas Montreal

DEAR MEMBERS OF COMMUNITAS,

Our Annual General Meeting will take place Wednesday, May 26th from 7 pm to 9 pm. Once again, due to measures in place due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the meeting will take place virtually on Zoom.  All the pertinent documents for the AGM will be sent out by email in the days prior to the meeting.

One of the requirements for the AGM is to have a quorum of members present. It is very important for you to respond to this email stating your intention to continue as a member.  Please indicate your intention by replying to this email. 

Membership will also ensure that you are able to vote at the AGM, including the election of members to the Board of Directors.

Any member can be nominated for the board after being supported by five voting members, according to the procedure set out in the linked document.  All nominations must be filed by the first Tuesday in May (May 4^th). A link to the nomination form is also included.

If you have any questions, please direct these to our Coordinator, Monika Barbe, at your earliest convenience at coordinator@communitasmontreal.org.

Thank you,

Bill Kokesch
Board Chairman

Nomination and Election of the Members of the Board of Directors of Communitas

Nomination Form – Board of Directors

Your feedback is always welcome.

Communitas
Coordinator@communitasmontreal.org

Communitas recently took part in a Christmas card campaign for federal inmates at several prisons in Quebec.  The campaign was launched by chaplains at the Federal Training Centre and coordinated by Corporation Jean-Paul Morin in Laval. Other partners included Présence Compassion, le Phare de Longueuil, as well as Relais famille.  Below is a thank you note from the chaplains.

Hello!

Today we received all the cards which you sent for the inmates.

We are so touched by the outpouring of your holiday wishes for them.  Not only will our inmates receive two cards each (one from the volunteers and one from the members of the organization Relais famille). But because of your generosity, inmates from four other institutions will as well. This was not planned but is a result of the overflow of your generosity. We chose to spread more holiday cheer to as many inmates as we could. So, thank you truly. In these difficult times, just knowing that there are people out there who still care, will do them so much good.

I got to read some of your cards, and I was so moved by how creative some of you were, either artistically, or with the messages — some of which included jokes or little stories, or just simple heartfelt wishes… this will certainly bring a smile to many faces.

Like I said, I got to read a few of your cards… but Chantal Lusignan (Corporation Jean-Paul Morin) read over 1800! And she went around picking up a lot of cards. So, on behalf of all the inmates, chaplains, and volunteers, we thank you for all that you have done for us.

Sabrina

To our dear friends and supporters!

Like all of you, Communitas has faced challenges this year like none we have seen before, testing our ingenuity, and our resolve to find new ways to accompany prisoners through a peaceful and safe social reintegration.

Whatever obstacles awaited prisoners upon release in the past, these have been amplified by the effects of Covid. Now, more than ever, our work must continue.  Release eligibility dates continue to arrive, sentences expire, and men emerge from the rigours of prison life searching for dignity, for purpose, for their place in an increasingly complicated world. Where once our programs’ participants met in person to share, to discuss, to learn, to experience fellowship, they now must attend our activities through Zoom and other online means. At such a moment, when their social isolation is particularly acute, we cannot allow the virus to corrode the caring and supportive community we have striven, with your financial help, to offer these men since 1999.

Despite the new barriers, our activities endure. With your continued assistance we shall be able to maintain and adapt our role as a bridge between the larger community, and these individuals in need of models, of concerned guides, of a social anchor. Our signature Open Door platform has continued on Tuesday evenings with virtually no interruption, allowing volunteers, interested members of the public, and ex-prisoners to maintain a meaningful connection, engaging together in a structured examination of topics that are informative and relevant, or sometimes just fun.

Nor have we interrupted our provision of the vital Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA), a program with proven dramatic impact worldwide on recidivism rates. Alongside these activities outside the walls is our crucially important inreach to prisoners looking forward to rejoining free society in the near future. While Covid prevents us from performing in-person visits, we are maintaining contact by sending in letters of support and copies of our Sou’Wester newsletter as reminders that this enforced physical separation has not removed them from our thoughts and prayers.

In fact, rather than retreat in the face of Covid, with your generous support, we plan to expand our assistance, by offering our members digital literacy programs, and by presenting instruction in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in the near future.

But these, and our core operations, are only made possible by your generous support, and once again, we look to you for financial encouragement. Tax-deductible donations can be made by mailing a cheque to our office at the address below, or by using the ‘Canada Helps’ donation feature on our website at  www.communitasmontreal.org/donate.

Those of you who wish to learn more about our mission, and would enjoy an opportunity to hear from volunteers and the men who benefit from our programs, and ask any questions you may have, are welcome to participate in a Zoom Webinar we shall be conducting on December 7. An invitation with the Zoom link will be sent out on December 6.

Once again, thank you for your past support and your commitment in making our little community a safe and welcoming place for people in need.

Peter Huish
Mouvement Communitas
3974 Notre Dame Street West, Suite B
Montreal, QC H4C 1R1

October 27, 2020

Hello everyone!

25 years ago today, our organization, which was intended to be an extension of Prison Chaplaincy in the community,was officially born. Community Chaplaincy is recognized by the Correctional Service of Canada, with whom we work.

The beneficiaries of our services continue to tell us how important our presence is in their lives. Men who come out of prison and do not have any support on the outside, find in our two shelters and our day centre, a living space that helps them reintegrate into the community. Community chaplaincy works within a network to reach all those affected by crime.

We work in a spirit of restorative justice in close collaboration with the Center for Services in Restorative Justice, thus reaching out to victims of crime. We are in contact with Relais-Famille, which supports the family members of people who are incarcerated. We are in partnership with the Circles of Support and Accountability to prevent recidivism by accompanying people who have committed sexual offences.  Every Thursday evening at   Entrée Libre, volunteers and people who are incarcerated or in transition, meet to discuss different topics, providing a place for them to open up and offering them the help they need to reintegrate into society, which is not always easy. Another one of our projects, Presence Compassion, is there for the people of the street, in the city center where there are former inmates. The Jean-Paul Morin Corporation creates a space for dialogue with volunteers and offenders, which helps to re-establish human, social and spiritual ties following crimes or offences. The Maison Orléans welcomes men for activities and celebrations. All of these projects are also held in English-speaking communities, thanks to Communitas, as well as in Quebec City.

The Covid pandemic prevents us from celebrating all the moments that have been experienced over the last 25 years, and which allow people to get back on their feet and have the desire to live with more serenity and confidence. We will celebrate at a later time! We thank all the volunteers and beneficiaries who work with heart and conviction to make our society a more humane and safe place. Let’s be proud of these 25 years! We still have a long road ahead of us!

Lucie Gravel, Président

Laurent Champagne, Coordinator

Website: aumcommtl.com                                              Tel: (514) 978-8881                                                      Email: [email protected]

Fernand Bessette, a Brother of the Holy Cross, died Sunday, 4 October 2020 on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, after a short illness.  Fernand was a long-time member of Communitas who attended our Open Door meetings over the years and even acted as an escort driver for us, picking up and dropping off the inmates from Ste-Anne-des-Plaines Minimum Institution as well as from Montee St. Francois Minimum Institution in Laval.

He was a gentle man who listened more than he spoke, but when he did share his thoughts it was always amazing to learn of all the things he had done with his life.  His sharing about the time he spent living in India was rare, but it clearly marked him in a significant way.

Fernand smiled and laughed easily, and you would never know from his demeanour how much he personally did for the men in prison.  He not only acted as an escort for incarcerated men attending Communitas’ events, but entered fully into the spirit of our activities, even going so far as to be the Santa Claus at one of our Christmas celebrations.  Nearly every day Fernand could be faithfully found in the prisons of Quebec, accompanying men whether as a Chaplain or just as a listener.  He also escorted inmates to other events connected with their work-release and other reintegration programmes.

As a Brother of the Holy Cross he was deeply devout, and a caring and compassionate soul whose heart touched hundreds of men over the years.

He will be greatly missed by his friends at Communitas.

Memories

So sad to hear…  I will always remember whenever the two of us would be going through a door he would tell me… “after you”  & always made me go through first….and he would always say: “The first will be last and the last will be first” and we would always have a good laugh every time……  Gaby.

Sad news indeed! To lose such a giving soul, one who never failed to be kind, is a great loss to us all… I have no doubt he will continue his Good Work in the life beyond – in joy, painless, and limitless…  Roger

“With every contact, even a momentary encounter in a penitentiary parking lot, Fernand had a gift for making the other person feel important. Imagine, he was the one who had embraced another way of life in India while we were playing it safe at home, yet you were the one who came away feeling interesting.”        Steve

 

Email your memories to [email protected]

We brainstormed, we weeded, and finally, we voted. Communitas members were given $1500 to allocate to proposed projects in 2020-2021 and here are the winning projects.  Thank you to everyone who participated at each stage of the process.   Stayed tuned for more news about these projects.

1. Host two budgeting workshops at Open Door ($150): the ACEF (Association coopérative d’économie familiale) will help us to evaluate our consumption choices, control debt, create healthy budgeting habits, and avoid traps of consumption.
2. Prepare a token of appreciation for our host, Christ Church Cathedral ($400). They have hosted Open Door for free for years! We want ideas for a creative way to thank them.
3. Host computer and tech workshops ($150): pay a techie to help members unravel the mysteries of computers, tablets and cellphones, navigate the web, use software and remain safe online
4. Create a pick-up service ($200) for our members leaving prison and drive them to their destination
5. Host a community BBQ for our members ($200)
6. Host a day of creativity at The Art Hive ($150). They have all the art supplies that you can imagine.
7. Hire a professional artist to lead an art project at Open Door ($200). This could be visual arts, performance art, theatrical arts, musical art or others.