The Maison de l'amitié is a community center founded in 1974 and located on Duluth Avenue in the heart of the Plateau-Mont-Royal.
The building itself was formerly a Jewish school, and then a Ukrainian cultural center. This was a poor neighborhood before gentrification. When the Mennonites bought the building, the organization’s mandate focused on helping immigrants and people in need in the neighborhood.
They collaborated immediately with other socially engaged workers in the area, including Gaston Michaud, alias Père Jean. Recently, his work was memorialized by the Comité de la ruelle verte, as the alley between Henri-Julien and Drolet streets was named for him in honor of his social commitment to the neighborhood's most destitute.
Our organization didn't have the infrastructure or resources to respond to the scale and diversity of needs. That's why we began developing a network of volunteers in 1980. To help immigrants integrate into society, the MA continues to work today in collaboration with other organisations, including Action Réfugiés Montréal, the Association des Réfugiés Africains de Montréal, Montreal City Mission, Racine Croisée, the Table de Concertation des Réfugiés de Montréal and the Réseau d'intervention Auprès des Personnes Ayant Subi la Violence Organisée (RIVO).
Next fall 2024, we will celebrate 50 years of service, and we are happy to be an example of the evolution of services to immigrants and refugees in Montreal.
By collaborating and harmonizing the efforts of various organizations, we have evolved to help immigrants integrate into their new country, which is why Maison de l'amitié also offers low-cost language courses to help immigrants integrate into the job market and Quebec society.
Although our organization has gradually shifted from direct intervention to acting as a referral center, it continues to help immigrants learn about and identify the resources and services that can best help them.
We have been, and continue to be rooted in the needs of our neighborhood. We look forward to continuing to play a role in incubating other community organizations as well as providing direct services to those who need them most.