Daniel L.

It was Mathilde-Hasnae * who introduced me to Daniel during my meeting with her, on a late Monday afternoon at l’Accorderie de Montréal-Nord. While I was talking with Mathilde, Daniel was reading some documents near us at the long table in the room that serves both as a meeting and dining room. As he did not seem completely indifferent to our conversation, he inevitably joined it. So when the time came to take some photos, I suggested that he join us in the collective garden of the Ilôt Pelletier.

One thing leading to another, our conversation continued after the departure of Mathilde and ended at nightfall, at the entrance of a building where he lives in this residential complex developed by the Société d’habitation populaire de l’est de Montréal (SHAPEM). This housing project is located in a Montreal-North sector that has evolved positively in recent years, after having long been disturbed by the presence of criminal gangs.

Daniel grew up in the area. His parents settled around there at a time when there were still fields a few blocks from their home.

He worked 31 years as an operator of digital machines in a metal products factory in the eastern part of the borough. However, he lost his job three years ago, following a severe depression. Given his years of service, he received a modest severance grant. For this reason, when he was admitted as a single tenant, he had to pay the maximum rent for a 1 ½ room apartment. For months, he stayed between its walls, seeing virtually no one but the doctor and the social worker from the CLSC.

It was largely the insistence of this lady that led him to get acquainted to the people from local grassroots organizations, both to break his isolation and for health reasons. Some groups have their offices on the site of his residential complex; others are active in the neighborhood. He first got to meet the members of Paroles d’excluEs, a movement against poverty and social exclusion, and later those of the Centre d’Action Bénévole (CAB).

Today, he is a member of L’Accorderie, a cooperative that facilitates the exchange of services between individuals. He proudly showed me on the wall of the room some photos taken at a large community dinner held recently at the Calixa-Lavallée high-school. He appears in one of them with other participants. The main course for this meal prepared by the members of L’Accorderie was pasta with vegetarian sauce, which suited all diets, including that of people who eat halal.

As he is past his mid-fifties and since his Employment Insurance benefits have dried out without seeing him find employment, he fears not having the confidence or the morale and health needed to be competitive in the labor market. Now dependent on the meager budget granted by social assistance, he follows with interest the efforts of the Comité de suivi en sécurité alimentaire (CSSA) a comity concerned about food security for the poorest.

One of the services provided by L’Accorderie is a food buying group. Its member’s resources are pooled to obtain food at cheaper prices. Daniel also participated this summer in the collective garden of the Îlot Pelletier, whose crops are shared equally between the buying group and volunteer gardeners. Early in October, the garden was still productive.

Before we parted, he said he hoped to qualify for a subsidized housing program. This would enable him to move into a 3 ½ apartment. He would then have a balcony large enough to accommodate a bicycle. This will, however, require that a lot of paperwork be filled out before he is accepted.

http://quartiersnord.photos/blogue-fr/2015/10/13/mathilde-hasnae-m

Daniel, after the night has fallen, outside the lobby of the Îlôt Pelletier community housing complex

Maddy L.

When she was still a newcomer, Maddy discovered the existence of proms − a tradition yet unknown to her −, by sewing decorations on the dress of a colleague at a Côte-des-Neiges bakery where she worked. She had taken this job, unrelated to her studies, because one has to pay the rent! Still, it is there that she established her first network of Montreal friends, people who helped her understand the school system and the work place in Quebec.

Maddy comes from the French town of Sarlat in Dordogne. She arrived here with her spouse, who comes from Bergerac. Having completed the equivalent of a master's degree in Sociology of Work in Bordeaux, she worked in that city for a few years in the community sector and held precarious positions as an employment counselor.

After that first job, she managed to successfully valorize her local work experience as well as her efforts to integrate the local work force. From then on, she held various positions directly related to her academic formation. After living in more central areas of the city, the purchase of her home brought her to this borough.

Mother of two children, one of the things she appreciates about life in Montreal is the opportunity to send them to an alternative school. The family now lives in a duplex near the Parc des Hirondelles, a neighborhood where many people from the great waves of Italian immigration of the 50s and 60s still reside.

Her spouse, who had found a job in his field upon arrival, has since recycled. Abandoning electronics, he completed a Diploma of Vocational Studies in woodworking, a profession in which he is much happier.

Maddy’s work schedule may surprise many people who believe that long work weeks occur only in the private sector. In addition to a full-time position at the Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi Ahuntsic-Bordeaux-Cartierville, she devotes some 20 additional hours each week to the agency "Mon toit, Mon Cartier", where she chairs the board.

The mandate of this non-profit organization is to help single mothers and their children by providing them with transitional housing and support. In the summer of 2015, the agency has opened its first building where 14 vulnerable women will stay with their kids. Located in a disadvantaged area, the building is topped with a green roof that will serve as a community garden with the hope the the residants and their kids will develop a taste for fresh food  grown with pride. The garden had a good first summer.

I asked her if sometimes the daily contact with vulnerable people going through difficult times was a burden. She said, no, on the contrary! Being a good nature, she tends to trust others and is happy to make a difference. Her smile and laughing eyes say it all!

Maddy in her office at Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi - Ahuntsic Bordeaux Cartierville

Guy F.

I met Guy at the entrance of the Jardin Ahuntsic, a beautiful community garden sloping up to the south of Sackville Street. He started cultivating a plot of this garden 2 years ago. His plantations are quite varied and growing well this year. Insofar as his dwelling place would allow it, he always had a small piece of land to cultivate. It's a habit that comes from his mother. As is often the case in the area, the soil here is clayey; a plant that grows well in it is the tomato. Guy chose the Florida cultivar. 

I thought the places were few and that there were long waiting lists to get one in a community garden. He said he got his pretty quickly and has already seen some turnover. People without gardening experience make a first try and then give up. These are often people who do not measure the daily involvement necessary to maintain a vegetable garden. They buy ready-made plants, put them in the ground, go on vacation three weeks without seeking a caretaker and then return to find that everything has withered. For him, the garden is a daily haven after work in a green oasis. 

Guy knows his way around in Greater Montreal. Grown up in the Mile End in Montreal, he lived in different districts of the city, then on the South Shore and the North Shore. 

Production Manager in a printing shop in St-Laurent, he came to live in the Sault-au-Récollet district two years to be closer to his work. The fact that his children are well on their way in life after successfully completing their studies also favored his return to the city. 

The company where he works is active in two sectors, general commercial printing and music publishing. It makes everything that is connected with the packaging and promotion of recorded music. 

I wish him a good harvest.

Guy standing behind his vegetable patch at in the Jardin Ahuntsic, a community garden.