Community centre in Laval fills visitors' plates and their hearts

The Relais Communautaire de Laval has been giving people in the Pont-Viau district food aid, social intervention and integration assistance and other community services for nearly 40 years.

According to a 2019 study from Centraide, close to one in five people in this district, along with Chomedey and Laval-des-Rapides, have a low income.

What started in 1984 as a small operation run by three women to help feed those in need grew into a food bank that serves 300 people a week.

Crystal Marchand has been visiting the centre for about a year and a half, and continues to come for its diverse and accepting community.

She says it is essential to many in the neighbourhood.

"A lot of us wouldn't have anywhere to go. Even if it's once a week, it's that trip you look forward to making. It's that place that gets you out of the house," she said.

Wendy Makoschey has seen the amount of people depending on the food bank grow in her years as a volunteer. She started volunteering in 2015 because she saw herself in the people going there.

"I needed help and this is where I came," she said. "I like giving back."

Members becoming volunteers is a pattern.

Jean-Thony Lucien is a musician who was born in Haiti and spent time in Brazil and the United States before coming to Canada five years ago. He goes to the centre for help with his immigration file. He has also been volunteering here for a few months, and he loves it.

"I feel good being here," he said. "They really embraced me."

Laura Nunez is in charge of unpaid human resources. She has been at the centre for four years, first as a volunteer and then an employee. She is proud of the work she and co-workers do to make the centre an inclusive space.

"We don't close the door to anyone. We're here for anyone that needs a place, that needs a place of acceptance, with no judgment," she said.

Pierre Castonguay volunteers in the centre's thrift store they use to finance the organisation. He is passionate about books and took it upon himself to completely revamp the book section.

His goal is to make books accessible to people in Pont-Viau and to pass on knowledge to youth, newcomers and anyone who wants to read.

He gets antique books, some from book fairs in the United States, and gives them to the centre so they can benefit from the profits of the sale.

"We transform books into food for the poor," he said.

The food bank is the most in-demand service at the centre, even more so now because of the inflation. Nunez says it is a difficult situation for everyone, especially those who are marginalized.

"We're doing what we can to accommodate everyone and have them feel that things are going to be OK," she said.

This story is part of CBC Quebec's community bureau in Laval.Learn more here.