François loved summer camps, both as a young participant, and, later, as an animator. He still keeps something of their spirit.

He is from the region of Chandler in Gaspésie. He grew up there and left only when time came to study at Cégep. At first, he didn’t go too far away. He earned his college degree in Social Sciences in La Pocatière. He then moved to Montreal to pursue studies in History at UQAM. Initially installed in Hochelaga, it took him some time to feel comfortable in the big city. However, he has since well acclimatized and has acquired a solid knowledge of the human and social backgrounds of its various neighborhoods through his jobs.

François has worked as a youth center animator in Centre Sud, Pointe-St-Charles and Rosemont. It is through a social services job as an outreach worker that he got to know Ahuntsic, Bordeaux and Cartierville.

He worked for five years for the Rap-Jeunesse youth organization, wich runs a mobile unit called L’Accès-soir in the northern boroughs of Montreal. Staffed by a group of direct intervention workers, this bus touring underprivileged areas on a pre-established schedule serves as a nocturnal meeting point for young people. Its crew seeks to reach out to socially isolate young adults who are going through hardships, but are reluctant to use the usual social services. According to François, working with and caring for people suffering from poverty, drug abuse and mental health issues, requires a great deal of integrity, availability and listening skills.

With a group of young people he met through his work at Rap Jeunesse, he got to know the Festiblues’ team. During an edition of this local blues festival, these young people and him were in charge of the site’s maintenance. This was, to some of them, one of their first working experiences.

Later on, François also worked on a personal basis with the site management team in subsequent editions the festival. For the sake of anecdote, when I pointed out to him that he had the right look to play as a sideman in the band behind Bernard Adamus - one of the stars of the Festiblues’ latest edition - he replied that although they actually lived in the same neighborhood, he unfortunately did not have the necessary musical skills to do so.

As the father of a young boy who is a little over 10 years old now, he eventually had to turn to a job with a schedule more compatible with family life. With his experience in youth centers and RAP Jeunesse, he was hired at the Carrefour Jeunesse emploi (CJE) of the borough. His work there was dedicated to a project named IDEO 16-17, an employability assistance program for this age group.

Today, thanks to his excellent knowledge of all local stakeholders, François is Director of the Maison des jeunes de Bordeaux-Cartierville. He has taken over this organization, which needed a new start after a six months shutdown. He sees to its financing and leads a team of animators who develop activity programs with the local youth. The offering ranges from cooking and audiovisual workshops to periods of free play. At the moment, sports are really hot. The soccer-basketball Friday night at the neighborhood YMCA is currently the most popular activity.

As the organization aims to develop independence, critical thinking and social integration among its young participants, François is particularly proud of the success of the Cooperative Jeunesse de services de Cartierville, a neighborhood project supported by the Maison des jeunes.

François in the locals of the Maison des jeunes de Bordeaux-Cartierville

Ericka had read about QuartiersNord on my son Mikaël’s Facebook page. She had met him at the XX-MTL conference on the situation and the representation of women in the media. When she arrived at the place of our appointment, the 132 Vintage Bar on Fleury Street West, she recognized me. We had spent an evening almost side by side, without actually introducing us to each other, at a Wyclef Jean show this summer. Arrived early to get good seats we had exchanged a few words and I had noticed a group of socially engaged people had gradually formed around this very sociable lady.

Ericka was born in the Eastern Townships and raised in Sherbrooke. Her parents were from Haiti and settled in the region at the suggestion of Quebecers they had met in their native country. She said growing up in that environment was excellent for her. However, her parents initially saw worried looks on the faces of their neighbors. They had never lived close to members of the black community before they moved there. Over time, high affinities with some of these neighbors have developed. Her father, a trained chef, has contributed much by getting involved in neighborhood events and school boards. The locals still remember the year he replaced the usual hot dogs of the St-Jean-Baptiste picnic by lasagna for everyone!

Ericka lived a childhood where happiness and adversity were tangled. Disease took away her mother when she was only 10 years old. She then had to be more than a big sister to her younger brother. Her father, who has admirably raised the two young ones and watched over their education, was also struck by disease when she was at the turn of her twenties.

She then left for Montreal where she shared a flat with four girls in the Plateau and began studies in Political Science at Concordia University. She worked several years at Jacob and then at the Women’s Y and contributed to the organization Mon projet d’affaire, a training and coaching center in entrepreneurship for women. She voluntarily assumed for a few years the co-presidency of Génération d’idées, a group that encourages the emergence of new perspectives on social issues and the expression of the diversity of ideas in order to give a voice to the next generation. She also helped out an organism assisting people living with HIV-AIDS. Volunteering is for her a fundamental part of life.

Like others before, she believed there was not much sign of life north of Highway 40 when she was hired at the Centre Jeunesse Emploi Ahuntsic Bordeaux Cartierville. She has since changed her mind. The 132 Bar Vintage was one of the crunches of this lady who loves bars and restaurants. She has fond memories of her father working in this type of environment.

As she prefers action to theory, she is currently a part-time student in Philanthropic Management. She loves to contribute to the success of others and spoke fondly of two young students of Ste-Marceline College and their project Mardi sans maquillage, a movement to promote self-esteem, confidence and pride. These are values hat correspond to Ericka’s!

About the residents of Ahuntsic-Cartierville and the neighbouring burroughs