Nestled among shops and cafés on Montreal’s Duluth Street is a chunky brick building with a small white sign. The main entrance is inconspicuous, a single door that leads to a small entryway and then to the right, a set of staircases. But if you pause to listen for a moment, you might hear several languages being spoken in classrooms upstairs or boxes being unloaded and bags being filled amongst friendly chatter in the basement down below.
Stepping around the corner, you’ll then see the Reception and Language Program Coordinator, Fernando Ascensio and when he sees you coming, he’ll greet you with a big smile, his eyes saying, how can I support you today? This is the Maison de l’amitié a space for anyone and everyone in Montreal’s Plateau neighborhood.
Purpose-driven programming
The goal, when it was founded by the Mennonite Church in 1973, was to address real needs in the community such as the lack of affordable childcare for immigrants and newcomers. As these needs evolved with changing demographics and new resources, over the years Maison de l’amitié has offered much more: refugee sponsorship, language classes, organic and fairtrade farmer’s markets, trauma healing services, a tool sharing shed, food bank, a gathering space for religious communities, an Indigenous cross-cultural awareness program for French-speaking communities, affordable student housing, and an annual International Day of Peace festival.
The current Director, Dora-Marie Goulet, explains that Maison de l'amitié’s vision was built on Anabaptist values of engaging the community and transforming the neighborhood through mutual support, justice and peace. To put it simply, she says, “my work is my message.”
The Plateau neighborhood in Montreal is well-known for its students, artists, tourists and growing population from France. Although it may at first appear as a prospering community, the reality is 1 in 5 people are economically precarious, according to a recent municipal study.
Dora-Marie points out that the other 80% are from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds and that while solidarity emerges more naturally in poorer neighborhoods, in communities with wider wealth disparity, it happens less organically. This is where Maison de l’amitié’s location aligns well with one of it's goals: to bring diverse people together and facilitate relationship building over shared needs like language learning and fresh food markets.
Partnering up with MCC Québec
MCC Québec has maintained a relationship with Maison de l’amitié over the years and this past summer collaborated over an internship opportunity through the Summerbridge Program. Anny, 18, arrived in Canada from Haiti less than 5 years ago and as the successful candidate for MCC Quebec’s Summerbridge program, she began her very first job at the reception desk with Fernando. She received newcomers to the center, offered support to staff, and participated in other program needs.
Fernando says that Anny was eager to learn and help, and her energy and proactive attitude were a great asset to the team all summer. Maison de l’amitié “benefits from the energy and ideals that young people bring” and interns like Anny “shift the average” and rejuvenate the work atmosphere, reflects Dora-Marie.
Maison de l’amitié will continue to adapt its programs and services to the changing needs of the community, but Dora-Marie emphasizes that an overarching value of mutual aid will remain. Rather than facilitating an unequal dynamic of charitable giving from those with more resources to those with little, they offer an alternative. Maison de l'amitié's history suggests that we can re-shape our communities by forming unlikely bonds of mutual support, engaging with one another, and helping to ensure that everyone has what they need from affordable food and language lessons, to work insertion, purpose, and meaning.
“Our role is to give people the opportunity to do good,” says Dora-Marie, “all of us are deserving of dignity, everyone is valuable, has something to give, and something to receive”.