Recevez nos reportages chaque semaine! Du vrai journalisme démocratique, indépendant et sans pub. Découvrez le «making-of» de nos reportages, le pourquoi et le comment.
L’actualité à travers le dialogue.Recevez nos reportages chaque semaine! Du vrai journalisme démocratique, indépendant et sans pub. Découvrez le «making-of» de nos reportages, le pourquoi et le comment.
L’actualité à travers le dialogue.Recevez nos reportages chaque semaine! Du vrai journalisme démocratique, indépendant et sans pub. Découvrez le «making-of» de nos reportages, le pourquoi et le comment.
Receive our newsletter every week to discover the “making-of” of our reports!
Un problème est survenu lors de l'envoi.
Contact
A warming solidarity in Rivière-des-Prairies
Photo: Yseult Picard
12/24/2024

A warming solidarity in Rivière-des-Prairies

Reading time:
5 Minutes
Local Journalism Initiative
Reporter:
ILLUSTRATOR:
EMAIL
Support this work
Note de transparence

At the end of the year, the Rivière-des-Prairies community center resembles Santa's workshop. More than fifty volunteers bustle around like real little elves to deliver generously stocked baskets to around 400 families in need during Christmas Eve.

The atmosphere is particularly festive. To the sound of lively music, some grab a quick bite while others organize themselves in a cheerful hubbub filled with laughter. On long tables, the baskets await distribution. Drivers take turns receiving their route sheets while boxes are loaded into the trunks of their cars. It’s a real human chain. Everything happens "with joy and good humor because we feel like we’re doing something good," sums up Nadine Félissier, Development Manager at Équipe RDP.

For several hours, cars and trucks parade through the parking lot, transforming, for one evening, into Christmas sleighs.

"It’s truly incredible to see how, in a neighborhood like this one, people who sometimes don’t even have enough for themselves always find a way to give to others," says one volunteer, who notes that word of mouth works well. "More and more of us are coming to help, and that’s wonderful."

Impressive Donations

Food aid is not Équipe RDP's primary mission. This organization is not affiliated with any food bank. However, it benefits from the support of more than 80 partners, whom it has approached in collaboration with Les Racines d'Ena, a community organization it works with. These include Salvatoré, Roma, Saputo, the Fédération des producteurs d'œufs du Québec, Dame Sara, O’Sole Mio, Ikea, among others. Several local businesses and many anonymous volunteers contribute to the collective effort.

Since 2020, Équipe RDP has been preparing Christmas baskets every year: turkey, pasta, milk, soups, cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as stuffed animals and toys. The beneficiaries are families who, during the holidays, are not listed with food aid organizations.

The basket distribution is an extension of the work carried out throughout the year by Équipe RDP, which aims to support children and adolescents whose families are in severe hardship.

Photo : Yseult Picard

Essential Community Support

In the neighborhood, Équipe RDP's work is respected and deemed essential by the community. As part of assistance programs, psychosocial workers visit schools daily to help students in difficulty. The goal is not directly to promote academic success but to ensure that their basic needs are met.

The neighborhood schools play a central role in identifying the most vulnerable families. When children show signs of distress or discomfort, school staff do not hesitate to direct these young people to Équipe RDP’s social intervention services. "Teachers and educators go through the administration to call on us. When a student exhibits unusual behavior at school, it’s often a sign that something is wrong at home," explains Jessie Charles, a psychosocial worker with the organization.

The burden of poverty is particularly heavy for immigrant families seeking asylum, who often live in dilapidated, overcrowded housing. Their apartments can be unsanitary, damp, and furnished with poor-quality furniture – if there is any at all. In these cramped spaces, children play among toys scattered on the floor, between piles of clothes and boxes. "Under these conditions, simply managing daily life becomes a challenge. I oversee about thirty families. The needs are enormous," explains Jessie Charles.

She mentions the case of a particularly restless young boy in class. After speaking with his parents, she discovered that they forbade him from moving around in their apartment, fearing they would disturb the neighbors. Thanks to her intervention, mediation was arranged with the neighbors.

"Sometimes, a child’s difficulties at school are directly linked to tensions at home. The school then becomes a strategic place to identify family needs," adds Burt Pierre, another Équipe RDP worker. He emphasizes the crucial role of schools in early problem detection.

Beyond material needs, the goal is also to restore balance in the lives of struggling families by giving them the tools necessary to improve their daily lives, such as workshops on parenting in an immigration context.

Photo : Yseult Picard

Organizations like Équipe RDP offer much more than temporary aid. They provide real support for integrating newcomers and reintegrating families into Quebec society who have become disconnected from work, school, or social services. Assistance ranges from language training to financial management and moral support.

Workers collaborate closely with these families to help them find or regain stability. Their role is to build connections, reassure, and offer concrete solutions to problems that may seem insurmountable. They also act as mediators between families and public authorities, facilitating access to services that are often difficult to obtain when one is an immigrant without status.

The workers who support these families daily are often from the local community and bring essential empathy through their proximity. Many of them grew up in the neighborhood and are familiar with the realities faced by beneficiary families, having experienced them in the past. This on-the-ground knowledge helps forge strong connections and create an atmosphere of trust, essential for aid to be accepted without shame.

The Christmas baskets are not just food aid; they are a symbol of the spirit of solidarity that animates this neighborhood. Thanks to the actions of Équipe RDP and volunteers, these disadvantaged families will also be able to eat adequately for a few days. Despite growing economic difficulties, including rising rents, electricity costs, and grocery bills, the Rivière-des-Prairies neighborhood continues to stand out for its strong solidarity.

The moment of receiving a Christmas basket is particularly moving. Toys, cookies, and little treats bring a touch of magic to the beneficiaries' difficult daily lives. With a smile reflecting her gratitude, a mother of seven children, who arrived from Haiti about three years ago, confides on her doorstep on the third floor of an apartment building on Boulevard Perras: "We will be able to celebrate Christmas and all eat our fill!"

Current events through dialogue.
News Through dialogue.