THE UP BEAT
A small community centre in Vanier accomplishes lots, but needs help to continue,
When Latifa Doudech arrived in Ottawa more than 13 years ago, she found a home at Maison Marie-Louise.
“When an immigrant arrives, it’s like he is parachuted into the unknown,” Doudech, an immigrant from Tunisia, explains in French.
The modest Vanier community centre, however, provided a “familial” environment where “everyone knows one another.” It offered simple but helpful advice, like where to find affordable groceries and how to avoid long-distance charges when calling home. And when Doudech needed a sewing machine on which to practise her new-found skills, Maison MarieLouise provided one for free.
Now, Doudech leads sewing classes in the centre’s basement.
“You work directly with the people you help,” she says. “It touches me deeply.”
Maison Marie-Louise occupies a low, red-brick building across from an auto repair shop on a quiet street in Vanier. Over the course of a year, 5,000 people cross its humble threshold looking to pick up donations, attend a free workshop or seek out a social space.
Nathalie Falardeau got a position on its board of directors three years ago after discovering the under-theradar organization at a United Way meeting. Coincidentally, she found herself moving upstairs following an apartment hunt in the neighbourhood.
“What attracted me was that every person is approached as an individual,” says Falardeau, who works at a francophone cultural centre in Orléans.
She praises the centre’s “holistic approach.”
The house is named after the Daughters of Wisdom’s founder. Marie-Louise Trichet, whose portrait looks down onto the centre’s communal lunch room. She formed the contemplative Catholic organization in the 18th century with Saint Louis de Montfort.
Maison Marie-Louise gives out clothing, furniture and other housing items. It acts as a resource hub, connecting visitors with services in the area. And it hosts workshops in English and French conversation, arts, sewing, jewelry-making and computers.
“There’s nothing like this in the community,” says house co-ordinator Claudette Lapalme.
She says the centre, which was founded in 1997, gives visitors a sense of belonging and makes them feel part of a community.
Beneath its good acts, though, the house struggles to stay open. It has two part-time paid employees; the rest of the services and activities depend on about 50 regular volunteers. Lapalme says the house survives on a $90,000 yearly budget, nearly half of which is devoted simply to keeping the space open, not including supporting programming.
She says it’s difficult to apply for grants because of the house’s low profile and small reach: It simply can’t compete with larger organizations.
Falardeau recognized this need and decided to turn a passion into profit. The 42-year-old will be swimming 10 kilometres across Meech Lake July 27 to raise money for the centre.
At first Falardeau had the modest fundraising goal of $1,000. When she heard the house needs new computers to keep up its workshops, she jacked up that target to $11,000.
“It’s really a house that’s close to my heart and they’re doing fantastic work,” she says.
This isn’t the first time Falardeau has used her love of endurance swimming to raise awareness and money for a charity. Last year she swam eight kilometres in support of the community centre Patro d’Ottawa.