What does outreach in the Montreal CHSSN network look like? It's a passionate urban journey of trust, respect, and inclusion

The first known written use of the word OUTREACH was recorded in 1568 which is extraordinary and to someone who’s working world is defined by this word and its complexities, I am in awe of those in our Montreal Network who dive deeply into the act of reaching out.

Outreach is an art; it is full of hidden layers and the intricacy of intersectionality is often part of the challenge in an urban environment.

Community outreach serves a vital function, filling in a gap in access to services and helping those who face heightened barriers to care. It involves meeting those in need at the location where they are and delivering services or raising awareness of existing services.

So how do we approach outreach in the English-speaking Montreal community? How do we navigate the profusion of neighbourhoods and find the hard to reach especially the most vulnerable? How do we support access to health and social services to English-speakers?

East & North of Montreal

Let’s start in the East and North of the island where the urban landscape is a patchwork of diverse communities married by the contrast of newcomers against the deep-rooted history of multiple generations. Outreach here is about how to better identify and engage vulnerable and often hard-to-reach English speakers.

The East Island Network for English Language Services –REISA is a community organization and an incredibly dynamic CHSSN Networking Partnership Initiative (NPI)I navigating intricate systems. They work to increase access to health and social services in English for residents of Montreal’s North and East-end, through collaboration with public, private and community stakeholders.

The secret according to REISA is to create relationships with engaged people in the territory through trust, exchange, and sustainable partnerships. Through outreach REISA creates dialogue that acknowledges relationship dynamics as central to the process. Claudia Maiolo (Programs Coordinator) at REISA believes that by arriving as a helping hand and offering support to organizations and institutions, their job becomes easier, and allows them to better serve their community. “We aren’t stepping on any toes, and we aren’t advocating for English-speaker rights. We do not push a political agenda…” What they promote is the very rich culture and traditions of the North and East-end of Montreal which include a cannoli or Mediterranean meal that are known to melt the hearts of even the hard-to-reach players, soften them, and keep them coming back to the table!

Center-West

As we journey across and around the Mountain to the Center-West, the scenery is highlighted as much by its distinct architectural symbolism as it is by the cultural diversity of the community. With over 100 different ethnic communities the Center-West boasts of some of the most densely populated and ethnically diverse towns and neighbourhoods in Canada. This is where creative outreach strategies that work are achieved by a multitude of passionate partners working in their respective neighborhoods together.

An innovative organisation in which resiliency has become part of their outreach strategy during the pandemic is the Eva Marsden Centre for Social Justice and Aging. The EMC has had to adapt its programs and outreach for seniors who have been the most isolated and fragilized during the pandemic, including the reality that many of the volunteers that were participating in activities before were now themselves secluded and in need of support.

At the EMC the resourceful Anne Mackay (Program manager) shared the following “The unprecedented levels of difficulties reported by our senior community over the past couple of years have emphasized the importance of our outreach and resiliency work. Through personal contact and programming, we continue to support our senior community by building strong bonds and links to resources.’’ Hundreds of seniors have been impacted by the dedication and ingenuity of the EMC and how they transform outreach constantly adapting to serve the community.

Center South

Arriving in the Center South we are greeted by a bustling downtown atmosphere that is a commercial and cultural hotspot interspersed with enclaves of urban neighborhoods that include a wide range of age groups and ethnicities with different economic livelihoods. These unique and diverse neighborhoods have often retained their vibrant and local village atmosphere although they are placed close to the city center. Verdun is one such example, long known as a working-class neighbourhood and steeped with history, it has experienced significant gentrification and social change over the past years and is a now vibrant example of viability and vitality in the microcosm of Montreal. Outreach to the English-speaking community in Verdun is focused on sensitisation and inviting the community together to share lived experiences and support them in their access to information and services through dynamic programming.

The Bright Beginnings program run by Collective Community Services -CCS is an example of how outreach has an effective impact on children and families “If we had to pick one word to describe the success of CCS’ Bright Beginnings project it would be “rooted”. New projects, opportunities, and partnerships often come our way organically through meaningful relationships we have built by being both formally and informally present and active in the communities we serve.” says an enthusiastic Megan Cohoe-Kenney, Manager of Children and Family from CCS.

Not far away at BGC Dawson, they use a youth-centered approach. Darley Polony (Coordinator/EM – Youth Programs) explains that the youth’s involvement at the early stages establishes the project’s sustainability and encourages active participation. “It’s for youth, by youth.” Our goal is to “provide safer passages over obstacles” for young people who are isolated, vulnerable, from different marginalized groups that lack access to mental health services. Here’s a quote from Keon (21 years old) when he found out about the project:

“That’s amazing! Such an amazing resource. Something many feel they don’t have access to. BGC Dawson always gives that home and community safe spaces vibe to all. I feel this will be so beneficial for the community.”

West Island

Lastly our focus shifts towards the West-island which is an amalgamation of cities, towns, and neighborhoods interspersed with industrial parks and green spaces. The overwhelming majority of its residents are bilingual if not multilingual (given the cosmopolitan nature of this vast suburban area), English-speakers still make up the greater part of the West-island population including small pockets of very vulnerable residents.

Within this engaging setting the African Canadian Development and Prevention Network (ACDPN) provides leadership on topics of access to Health and Social services for members of the English-speaking community. They also add another layer by focusing on issues specific to the English-speaking Black community that faces specific challenges due to their double minority status in Quebec as it pertains to not only language but also ethnicity.

Tania Callender (Executive Director at ACDPN) emphasises how shared life experience becomes a bridge to building trust and connection with those who are hardest to reach. Her strategies involve: 1. Adapt to include 2. Build partnerships 3. Check in and 4. Honour diversity. ACDPN advocates outreach by connecting with empathy and not with sympathy, practicing authenticity as agents of change in their growing community.

Finally, it can be said that outreach encourages engagement, which ultimately builds the community one step at a time. To serve the “hard-to-reach,” the goal is to reach the “yet-to-be-reached,” which the Montreal Network is demonstrating every day through outreach as the foundation of all that they do in the communities they support.

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