80, Ruelle de l'Avenir

An initiative of Projet 80

Why?

Children and teens from disadvantaged backgrounds often live in a difficult family environment, are less likely to participate in sports, social and cultural activities, and grow up in a neighbourhood with higher rates of delinquency, school dropout and unemployment. So why not give them access to a stimulating and enriching living environment?

What?

80, Ruelle de l’Avenir is the result of a fruitful partnership between the agency Projet 80, Gaz Métro and the Montreal School Board. This program offers a unique learning centre for children and youth in the Centre-South neighbourhood, a very poor district of Montreal. It promotes a healthy lifestyle, academic perseverance, excellence and openness to the world.

How?

During the summer of 2008, Garneau elementary school underwent some exciting transformations:

• Trees and a vegetable garden were planted in the school courtyard.
• The gymnasium was renovated and equipped with a mobile stage as well as an audiovisual projection system for sports and arts activities.
• The rooftop became a vegetable garden and family terrace.
• An annex was transformed into a creative centre.

When young people come through the door today, they no longer find a school corridor with classrooms on each side. Instead, they enter an “alley” or “ruelle” which opens onto a kitchen, a botanical room, a dance studio, an arts and sciences centre, a lounge and a multimedia centre. Several experts in different fields are on hand to motivate the kids and support them with their projects.

Who?

Hundreds of young people from five primary schools and one secondary school in the Centre-South neighbourhood now use these resources every day in order to open for themselves “a world of possibilities.”