Helping people find work is at the heart of Renaissance
Every year, during the first three weeks of December, Renaissance has its annual holiday donation drive.
Aimed at collecting gently used items such as clothing, shoes and accessories as well as household goods and dishware to sell through its network of 26 stores and bookstores, the annual initiative, like all of Renaissance’s activities, is part of the notfor-profit organization’s mission to provide employment services to people who have a difficult time integrating into, or back into, the workplace.
“The whole purpose of having donors give us merchandise, and selling it, is to fulfil our social mission, which is really the root of the organization,” said Renaissance’s new CEO, Éric St-Arnaud, who’s worked with the group for nearly 14 years.
“Christmas is the time of year when people are already in the giving mood, so what we’re asking is that they give us what they’d give to a friend or family member, if they were cleaning out their closets and no longer needed the item.”
Renaissance offers a variety of services at its employment resource centres, but the non-profit’s driving force has always been the paid, sixmonth job training program that was the reason for its creation back in 1994, when one of Moisson Montreal’s co-founders, Pierre Legault, started it.
“Legault realized that many of Moisson Montreal’s volunteers were people who were scared to work and, somehow, volunteering sounded less overwhelming to them, so he created an organization to help bridge that gap,” explained St-Arnaud.
“He created an environment where people who were re-entering the workforce felt supported, which helped them believe in themselves as well as their ability to support themselves and be selfsufficient.”
Last year, 260 people participated in the 35-hour-aweek job-training program by working in one of its retail stores, at 51 donation centres, or by doing bookkeeping. Nearly 84 per cent of participants found and kept a job after completing the program.
“This year, after just seven months, we’re above that number — at 90 percent, which is tremendous,” said St-Arnaud.
“During their time with us, participants work with social workers to form healthy habits. Sometimes, when you haven’t worked for a while, you may feel insecure or isolated, and we help those individuals create the skills they need to work.”
All programs considered, Renaissance helped nearly 2,000 people who were looking for work last year.
In addition to its social mission, Renaissance also fulfils an important environmental one: it promotes sustainability.
“Last year, 35 million pounds of used clothing and household goods were rerouted from landfills to our stores. That’s a lot of merchandise that’s being repurposed, instead of polluting the planet,” St-Arnaud said.
“When people donate to Renaissance, they’re helping human beings — but they’re also helping the planet.”