Johanne Fleurant named new Director of Youth Protection at the CIUSSS de l’estrie-chus
The CIUSSS de l’estrie-chus’s board of directors announced on Friday that Johanne Fleurant was to become the new director of the local Youth Protection Branch (DPJ).
Trained as a social worker, Fleurant began her career as a child protection officer. She has been working in the field for nearly 25 years, spending the last 20 years as manager and senior executive. She is known for her experience and mobilizing leadership and has shown her ability to overcome major challenges throughout her career.
“The entirety of my career has been dedicated to youth. As director of the DPJ, I hope to be a key actor in the identification and implementation of significant and durable changes so that youth protection becomes a priority for everyone in Estrie and in Quebec,” she said.
Until she officially begins as director, Alain St-pierre will hold the position of interim director.
The Gros Pierre Orchard in Compton just got a little bit more accessible to people with reduced mobility. In a move to expand what they can offer to a more diverse clientele, the orchard operators
unveiled a new wagon on Monday that is equipped to bring as many as five wheelchairs at a time out among the apple trees.
“Here at the Gros Pierre we are often visited by older people with reduced mobility and people in wheelchairs,” said Mélanie Éliane Marcoux, who coowns the orchard with Gaétan Gilbert. “There are grandparents who have been coming here with their families for many years who, as they age, have
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stopped going down into the
Feeling like something needed to be done to try to bring these visitors back among the trees, the orchard owners applied for a grant given through Kéroul, the organization mandated by the provincial ministry of tourism to support universal access in tourist establishments. orchard.”
Nathalie Roy, Coordinator of the accessibility program for tourist establishments at Kéroul, explained that the program that the orchard benefitted from applies to a wide variety of tourist establishments, from places of lodging to attractions and information booths.
“When we talk about universal access at Kéroule, we’re not just talking about wheelchairs,” Roy said, pointing out that aids put in place to help people with physical handicaps can also be used to assist families with strollers, the elderly, and the obese, among other people with mobility challenges.
The new adapted wagon at Le Gros Pierre, which has the ability to load passengers through a specialized rear elevator, was completed at a cost of $22,900.Of that total, $18,320 was given by Kéroule with the remaining $4,850 coming from the orchard directly. A second project aimed at improving the accessibility of the building’s doors and tables is set to take place after the end of this apple season. That project is also supported by Kéroule, who are providing $7,990 to the orchard’s $1,997.
According to Roy, these two initiatives are among 145 different projects submitted for consideration from across the province and the money handed out is drawn from a budget of $5 million over 5 years from the provincial government. Accessibility projects are eligible for grants of up to $50,000 in total.