June/July 2013 - Community Connections

Community Connections Page 24
June/July 2013
Second Annual “Getting to
Know our Communities”
By Jim Colmer
On Saturday, April 27, 2013, the Deux-
Montagnes Laurentian English Services
Advisory Network (LESAN) hosted
their second annual information day to
promote health and social services
organizations and businesses in the
lower Laurentian region that provide
services in English as well as French. It
was held at the Veterans’ Hall in Deux-
Montagnes and ran from 10:00 am to
4:00 pm. It was organized by a team of
people that work on the LESAN
committee on a regular basis. LESAN is
a 4 Korners
i n i t i a t i v e
t h a t i s
sponsored
b y t h e
Networking
Partnership
Initiative, which in turn is a program
that is funded by the Community
Health and Social Services Network.
They in turn are funded by Health
Canada.
I had the privilege for the second year
in a row to act as animator for the
event. A total of 17 non-profit
4 Korners is proud to present
their 2013 English-Language
Services Directory for the
Laurentians region.
This vital resource has been developed
to promote health and
social services that exist in the
Laurentians as well as the
means to access them. The Directory
informs the Englishspeaking
population of the
Laurentians of community services
that are available in English.
The majority of the organizations
listed in this guide
are members of the Regroupement
des Organismes Communautaires
de Laurentides
and are recognized by the
Health and Social Services
Agency of the Laurentians (the
Agency). The Agency requested
that 4 Korners Family
Resource Center determine
which community organizations
are able to offer services
in English and to what extent.
To facilitate the search, services
have been separated by
MRC and by population group
organizations participated in the day’s
activities including PANDA, Carrefour
Peri-naissance, 4 Korners, CESAME,
Heritage Club, Community Connections,
Lions Club, Kanesatake Health Center,
Service Canada, Centre de Santé et des
Services Sociaux du Lac de Deux-
Montagnes, Women’s Time Out,
CAVAC, PRISME, Maison des Jeunes
and Christ Church. Five businesses also
participated this year for the first time
including Zeal, Dale Hammond, Sandra
Capogreco, Colleen McClean from All
Zen and Glenda Esguerra from ParaVie.
Numerous gift certificates were
donated by organizations and
businesses. These prizes were awarded
by the scavenger hunt organizers Emy
and Karl.
There was a steady stream of
individuals and families throughout the
day, totalling around 60 people, double
(youth and family, women seniors
and all ages).
4 Korners is dedicated to assisting
people of all ages to access
information, resources and
services in English. A network
to improve access to health and
social services has been built
throughout the Laurentians in
collaboration with partners
from the public health sector,
community sector, education
sector and dedicated volunteers.
To obtain a copy, please contact
4 Korners at 450-974-3940
or 1-888-974-3940.
last year’s number. This was an
overwhelming success that no doubt
will encourage the organizers to
consider a similar event next year.
Around 11:00 am, the group Mad-
Science entertained young and old (as
in older) with some miracles of science
involving mixing water with chemicals.
Around 1:00 pm, two folks from Repti-
Zone put on a display of creatures that
could best be described as “creepy.”
Kids and a few adults had great fun
wrapping these crawlers around their
necks and arms. I watched from a
discreet distance.
Lunch and snacks were provided by the
students from PDM high school and
they did a great job— especially the
truffles.
Dale Hammond, a certified adult and
personal trainer specialist, put us
through our steps with 15 minutes of
exercise after lunch. Later in the day
Glenda Esguerra from Paravie did a
great workout with several young
volunteers with a boot invention called
Kanga-jump. All in all it was a great
day, which bodes well for the same
event next year. Stay tuned.