Putting families first in Cloverdale Village

Over the past 30 years, Cloverdale Multi-Ressources, supported by Centraide of Greater Montreal, has helped many vulnerable families, but the need now is greater than ever

By Ursula Leonowicz, ©2024 Postmedia Network Inc.

Helping residents of all ages, Cloverdale Multi-Ressources is a beacon of hope in Cloverdale Village, the largest housing cooperative in Quebec and the second largest in the country.

Over the past 30 years, the agency has helped many vulnerable families in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, but one of the biggest changes that executive director Veronica Lopez has noticed most recently is how many families are living in poverty even though one or both parents are working.

“Lately, the issues are much more critical and include lack of housing and other essential needs like food and clothing, as well as problems finding properly remunerated work,” says Lopez, who has been with the agency for the past 27 years.

“There are many newcomers who have a lot of education, but their diplomas just aren’t recognized here, which leaves them no other choice but to take survival jobs. It’s common to see doctors and engineers working as Uber drivers or at fast-food restaurants, putting in long hours for low salaries.”

Dedicated to helping families of all kinds, including single-parent families, newcomers, refugees and asylum seekers, go from surviving to thriving, Cloverdale Multi-Ressources has programs and services for new and expecting parents, preschoolers and children aged six and up. It also provides support for adults and families and is one of the only agencies with a dedicated program just for fathers.

Known as Fathers at Heart, it provides both personalized assistance and socio-recreational activities for West Island fathers and their children. “Men rarely reach out for help and many of them are simply not used to asking for it, so when a father reaches out for assistance you know things have gotten really bad,” she says.

The agency has a full-time, pre-school program, the main aim of which is to help prepare children for a successful transition to school. A temporary daycare for children aged two to five years old, for parents who simply need a break or want to participate in one of the adult programs, is also provided.

The school community counselling service, which is held in partnership with seven elementary schools that are part of the Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys, allows community counsellors from Cloverdale into the schools, where they’re able to work one-on-one with children in welcome classes.

Some of the ways counsellors help is by connecting families with community resources, finding warm winter clothes, getting them on a food basket list or simply listening. Many of the families that Cloverdale serves come from countries that are experiencing conflict, and both children and parents are dealing with issues that go above and beyond the usual challenges associated with living in poverty.

In addition to making sure families have the essentials they need to survive, Cloverdale also prides itself on ensuring they have their fair share of happy moments.

“It’s sad to see how vulnerable families don’t take advantage of the free socio-cultural events that the community offers because they’re in survival mode and don’t think they deserve to have fun,” the executive director says.

“One of our goals is to encourage and make it easier for them to attend the events and provide some much-needed happiness and joy in their lives.”

Most of the work that Cloverdale does with its adult clientele revolves around providing resources and referrals surrounding housing, health, education, immigration and childcare.

Centraide of Greater Montreal

Over the past few years, Cloverdale has been inundated with requests for help from asylum seekers. To help meet the agency’s needs, it received support from the asylum seekers emergency fund, which was initiated and operated by Centraide of Greater Montreal and funded mostly by the provincial government and Centraide of Greater Montreal.

“It really made a huge difference in terms of how much we could help,”
Lopez says.

“Previously, we had received emergency aid from Centraide during COVID and we are grateful that Centraide always stays so involved and aware of what the situation is, so that they’re able to act rapidly to help an agency in need. Beyond these spontaneous emergency funds, Centraide also provides annual, ongoing support to Cloverdale, ensuring our agency has the stability to continue its work.”

As part of Centraide’s network of over 375 community agencies and projects to help Greater Montreal communities, Cloverdale not only receives much needed financial support from Centraide, but also a wealth of resources.

“It’s important to do everything as part of a network, to collaborate and provide a continuum of services for our clients based on everyone’s expertise,” she adds, “because not one of us can provide all of the required resources.”

For more about Centraide or to find out how you can help, visit centraide-mtl.org.

This content was produced by Content Works, Postmedia’s custom content studio.