Main dans la Main, a social paediatrics centre for the Brome-Missisquoi community, is participating in a new three-year pilot project launched by the provincial government that will see an outreach worker join its team. 

The organization’s outreach worker will identify vulnerable and isolated families with children between 0-5 years living in Cowansville to make them aware as to what services are available to them. The work is being done in collaboration with other community groups and partners, like the CIUSSS de l'Estrie - CHUS, la Maison de la famille de Cowansville et Région, and Cellule Jeunes et familles de Brome-Missisquoi (Le Cellule),

Main dans la Main is currently recruiting for the position and if a success, it hopes to keep an outreach worker on its team moving forward. 

“The idea is that the stats from the government show that there are actually 36 per cent of children under the age of four who did not have any daycare or any educational services. In order to reach out to these children, the Ministère de la Famille is deploying this kind of project on the impact of outreach work with those isolated families in the community,” explained Élisabeth Lapointe, executive director of Main dans la Main. 

While Main dans la Main serves the entire Brome-Missisquoi region, Lapointe noted that the pilot project is to specifically help families in Cowansville.

“The outreach worker will be a resource that will act as a bridge between isolated families and the community organizations, so it’s in line with our mission, and to  empower families to find answers to their needs themselves,” said Lapointe. 

This project is responding to "a challenge of all of the organizations that work with families in the community," continued Lapointe. 

“Which we are a part of, but it’s not only for us. It’s also for organizations like the CIUSSS de l'Estrie - CHUS, la Maison de la famille de Cowansville, and Le Cellule. We have been working from the very beginning to review our ways of doing things to reach isolated children or families in the region actively,” she added. “I would say it’s a concern for all of our family partners in the territory and this is why it’s so important for us to work together on this project.”

Lapointe explained that whomever fills in the role of outreach worker has to create “bonds of trust” with the families they work with. 

“The outreach worker will have to make themselves known to all of the family partners of Cowansville to create bonds with those organizations also. The idea is to raise awareness and to inform families about the services available and support them according to their needs. The outreach worker will have to physically be at places where they will be able to identify families in situations of vulnerability,” she told CIDI. 

Lapointe mentioned that these places can be "public places, dépanneurs, places of birth, parks, HLMs (low-cost housing)," or other.

“This outreach worker will also be consolidating the bond between families and organizations. They will participate in, for example, meetings in the community, relevant committees, they will work closely with us, but also our partners,” she said. 

When asked if Main dans la Main hopes to keep outreach workers on its team to reach families in other parts of Brome-Missisquoi, Lapointe responded “absolutely.”

“We hope that this project will open the door to recurring funding in our community for outreach work, which is finally presently recognized as a response to the needs of isolated families I would say,” mentioned Lapointe. 

Those interested in the outreach worker position can go to Main dans la Main’s website, Facebook page, or LinkedIn page for more information.

Listen to the full interview below: