Outreach initiatives in the West Island will benefit from an additional $112,200 in funding from Centraide this year.
That brings the total in Centraide allocations to West Island community agencies and projects to $1,577,417.
“Companies, their employees and donors from the community are generous to Centraide,” James C. Cherry said. “It is because of their loyalty and commitment that we are able to help improve living conditions.”
Cherry is the chairman of the board for Centraide in Greater Montreal and the president and CEO of Aéroports de Montréal, an agency that has been supporting Centraide’s West Island initiatives for decades.
Pères à coeur, a new program targeting fathers living in the culturally-diverse northern sector of the West Island receives $26,500 from the new allocation.
More than half of the population of the West Island lives in the northern sector. More than than half of the families in that sector struggle with poverty, the majority of them living in Pierrefonds and Dollard des Ormeaux.
Pères à coeur will be designed with input from seven West Island programs and community organizations and will offer counseling, support groups and activities for fathers with the goal of enhancing the quality of the relationship between father and child.
“It’s sometimes difficult to reach out to fathers in the community,” president and executive director of Centraide of Greater Montreal Lili-Anna Pereša said. “We know that fathers aren’t interested in the same activities as mothers, so we will adapt the program to their interests and needs. Fathers need support too.”
The WIAIH, a resource centre for people with special needs including people with autism, receives $40,000. The centre also advocates for people who are socially isolated.
And $25,700 is allocated to set up a round table for agencies in the southern sector of the West Island to come up with an action plan to better battle poverty. The action plan will target pockets of poverty in Dorval, Pointe Claire and Ste. Anne de Bellevue.
The additional funding also allowed for $10,000 grants to be awarded to both the WIAIH and West Island Youth Action.
The West Island is home to a high concentration of young people, many of whom are at risk and struggling with academics or battling substance abuse problems. Centraide-supported organizations including the YMCA in Pointe Claire, West Island Youth Action, Cloverdale Multi-Ressources, and Carrefour des 6-12 ans de Pierrefonds-Est work to keep young people engaged, active and off the streets.
Centraide of Greater Montreal serves the island of Montreal, Laval and parts of the the South Shore. It supports 370 community agencies and projects that reach 500,000 people in need. Its launches its annual fundraising campaign with the Walk of 1,000 Umbrellas event in downtown Montreal, Oct. 1. Last year’s campaign raised $58.2 million.
