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Message from Stéphanie Gareau
Together, we have the power to change things!
We’ve repeated this simple sentence at every opportunity for the past few months and are truly happy to see that it has resonated across so many communities. First and foremost, it resonated with our entire team here at Marie-Vincent, still unwaveringly committed to supporting the kids who come to us, as well as with the business community who responded so positively to our campaign cabinet’s efforts. Our wonderful spokesperson, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, also reached many of her friends in the arts community who agreed to give of their time and lend their voice to support young victims of sexual violence. Everyone showed extraordinary commitment and generosity, and an unconditional support to our cause. We are extremely fortunate and thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
In the past year, Marie-Vincent has put some issues front and centre, namely the challenges associated with accessibility to our services, the importance of raising awareness about sexual violence and its consequences, and the importance of prevention. For over a year, our team has been hard at work consolidating a new direction for our services so as to better answer the needs of young victims. We also hired several new employees to strengthen our team and have made considerable efforts to put group therapies in place. All these actions led to a reduced waiting time, and we will continue our efforts in this regard. The dedicated team at Marie-Vincent will keep doing everything it can to provide young victims with quality support.
We will keep on making a difference by working together, now more than ever! As we look to the future, the second year of our 2021-2026 strategic plan begins with the opening of our new Marie-Vincent support centre for children and young people in the Montérégie area, an ever-growing prevention and training program, and by making our staff’s well-being a priority as our team and our organization keep growing. The entire management committee is devoting its time and energies to see this come to fruition.
Marie-Vincent: truly determined to build a protective community!
Stéphanie
Executive director
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Message from Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin
Video clips to raise awareness
Given the statistics on sexual violence, there’s no denying the importance of helping victims or the role prevention can play. But the needs far exceed the help available... At Marie-Vincent, we want to change that!
Prevention is at the heart of Marie-Vincent’s mission. Sexual violence is everyone’s business. And that is what led me to reach out to well-known artists to increase public awareness of the repercussions of sexual violence at an early age. And how important it is to prevent this from happening. 11 public figures agreed to join me and speak up for our children in three video clips addressing our collective responsibility to “keep an eye out for our children”. These touching and life-affirming clips deliver a meaningful message.
Their impact is powerful; they don’t shy away from the facts. The videos were directed and produced by the fantastic team at Moonstruhk while actor and author Lily Thibeault penned the scripts.
I am very proud of having 11 artists who agreed to lend their voice to the cause by my side!
Together, we are helping to expand Marie-Vincent’s reach and raising awareness about its mission to better address sexual violence against young people.
Together, we have the power to change things!
Mélissa
Spoke person
**Video clips are only available in French **
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Latest news from our centres | *The video is only available in French * | |
Operation Marvin: support children victim of sexual violence with our teddy, Marvin!
The new Québe made-Marvin, slowly made in Montréal by raplapla and delivered for free by Intelcom, is now available! If you would like to contribute to the cause and support young victims of sexual violence, you can now pre-order a Marvin teddy! Marvin has great significance for the young victims we support at Marie-Vincent. On their very first visit at our centre, they are all gifted their very own.
This little teddy provides much needed comfort, solace and hope to every single child. Support our cause: each Marvin costs $40, with proceeds going directly to Marie-Vincent.
Buy your very own and help us build a protective community!
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Marie-Vincent invited to submit a brief during consultations
Marie-Vincent was invited to take part in the Bill 15—An Act to amend the Youth Protection Act and other legislative provisions—special consultations on February 10th and to submit a brief. Executive Director Stéphanie Gareau and Director of Clinical Services, Sonia Dionne represented Marie-Vincent during these consultations.
We are extremely proud of having been involved in the government’s ongoing discussions; we introduced our model of support centres for children and young people, and highlighted how important it is to foster easier collaboration among partners so as to benefit our children.
This great opportunity allowed us to promote and showcase our mission as well as our consultation model and to take an active part in discussions on youth protection in our society.
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Marie-Vincent takes part in the Marathon Beneva de Montréal, the greatest running event in Québec!
We are very happy to announce that Marie-Vincent will be among the charitable organizations involved in the new Run with Heart program.
· The event is set to take place from September 23 to 25, 2022.
· Many routes are available to suit all runners:
- 1 km, 5 km, 10 km, half-marathon (21.1 km) or marathon (42.2 km)
Why should you register with the Marie-Vincent team?
- For the sheer pleasure of running!
- To support our cause and help raise public awareness about the Marie-Vincent Foundation;
- To reach our $10,000 goal and support young victims of sexual violence;
- To reach a personal or group objective, with your friends or your business.
For over 30 years, this has been a not-to-be-missed event for runners of all levels looking for a memorable experience that showcases the beauty and diversity of Montréal.
A lively and colourful programming is planned to celebrate the 30th edition!
Join our team! Let’s go Marie-Vincent!
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Lantern Program: Marie-Vincent reaching across borders
Prevention and Training projects Acting Director Sophie de Cordes flew to France on February 4th to help prepare the implementation of the Lantern Program, set to be delivered by l’Association Alexis Danan de Bretagne.
Marie-Vincent is extremely proud of its contribution toward the growth of this prevention program—such a great opportunity to see our protective community reach far beyond the borders of Québec.
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News from Montérégie
Marie-Vincent Child & Youth Advocacy centre (CYAC) in the Montérégie area: first step of our arrival in Châteauguay.
Over the past several months, the Marie-Vincent Montérégie team has been hard at work, completing renovations and adding a few finishing touches, so they could welcome children, teenagers and parents to our new Marie-Vincent CYAC in the Montérégie region.
On March 14th, the Marie-Vincent team was finally able to move into their new centre. Home, at last! Many thanks to our partners Mario Vincent at BAC Entrepreneur général and architect Julie Dagenais who designed, created and built spaces that are tailor-made to the needs of our clientele and our partners.
This is a significant step forward in our endeavour to foster better access to our services, a goal we plan to achieve thanks to the projects funded through our major fundraising campaign.
We want to thank our steering committee who oversaw the harmonious development of this project with our community partners: the Valleyfied Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) , the Montérégie Crime Victims Assistance Centre (CAVAC), the Montérégie Director of Youth Protection (DYP), CISSS de la Montérégie-Est, the Service de police de la Ville de Châteauguay, the Sûreté du Québec de la Montérégie, the Service de police de la Ville de Mercier, and the Direction des programmes de santé mentale et dépendances (DPSMD) of the Montérégie-Est.
We also want to acknowledge our generous donors collaboration, who have supported and believed in this project from the beginning: Desjardins GoodSpark Fund, Promutuel - Vallée du St-Laurent, Fondation Jeune Oasis, Chamandy Foundation, Pathy Family Foundation and Scotiabank.
This is a significant step in the deployment of improved accessibility to services, one of the objectives of the projects funded by the major fundraising campaign.
In 2022-2023, about 100 people will benefit from the services.
Together, we are building a protective community!
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Group therapies have resumed at Marie-Vincent!!
Thanks to its dedicated team and the generosity of its donors—which includes a $25,000 donation from Bell Let’s Talk—Marie-Vincent has started two therapy groups in recent weeks
One for for girls aged 6 to 8, the second for girls aged 9 to 12. Groups are open to 6 to 8 children, and to take place from March 8 to June 9. By facilitating group therapies, we will be able to reach more children at once and determine those most interested and best suited for this type of therapy. Plans are also under way to organize a group for teenaged girls, set to begin this fall.
The objective of these therapy groups is to reduce and eliminate the harmful consequences of sexual violence based on the specific needs of each young victim. Proposed activities will be put forward through games, crafts, stories, scenarios, watching movies, improvisation, discussions and art therapy.
Sustained work, mutual aid and professionalism: a big thank you to all the people who contributed to the start of the new therapy groups.
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Service of the prevention and training team
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Lantern Program set to reach children aged 6 to 12 and children with special needs
The Lantern Program was first implemented in 2019 in a few pilot communities throughout Québec. This same program is now available in community organizations and early childhood education ans care. Prevention for preschoolers is crucial: sexual violence is a consequence of gender inequality. Our prevention work with children aged 0 to 5 will result in little ambassadors who, from a very early age, will be able to help us build a world without sexual violence.
To broaden the reach of this program, we have received a financial support
confirmation from the Public Health Agency of Canada to develop the Lantern Program for children aged 6 to 12.
In addition, to further increase the prevention’s reach, we will also be working on the development of a Lantern Program for children with special needs.
An online game for teens on preventing cyberviolence
We are very proud to announce the creation of a brand new web game, [Delicate Spots], created in collaboration with Alice and Smith.
Designed specifically for teenagers, [Delicate Spots] tackles different issues related to preventing sexual violence such as consent, reporting sexual violence and sharing intimate pictures.
The game is available in French and in English, and a companion guide is also available for members of the school community.
Our heartfelt thanks to our partners for their financial support: the Pathy Family Foundation, the Secrétariat à la condition féminine and the Secrétariat à la jeunesse du Québec.
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Research chair
Mireille Cyr, co-chairholder of the Marie-Vincent Interuniversity Research Chair, has published a book on children’s capacities in a socio-legal context, and the best practices when receiving a child’s statement. It is entitled Conducting interviews with child victims of abuse and witnesses of crime.
This book combines current knowledge about disclosing abuse, children’s capacity with respect to memory, suggestibility, language and knowledge, and best practices when dealing with children who are victims of abuse or witness to a crime.
This book may be used during any NICHD (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) Protocol training in English, detailing what is currently known to foster better practices when dealing with children victims of abuse. It can be used by all members of the socio-judicial community.
A remarkable achievement—congratulations Mireille!
The French version of this book, entitled Recueillir la parole de l’enfant témoin ou victime, is on sale in most bookstores.
It can also be ordered by email at orders@taylorandfrancis.com.
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Fundraising activities: How do they work and what are the benefits?
A fundraising activity is a charitable initiative hosted by a person or group who, with this event, generate revenues for a given organization (NPO, or non-profit organization).
Any type of activity or event, whether big or small, can help raise funds as long as they align with Marie-Vincent’s values and mission: a golf tournament, a bake sale, a yoga class for your community, business, school or sports club, etc.
Our Philanthropic Development team can help organizers by providing: :
- Support with logistics and planning;
- Tools to raise awareness and promotional material;
- Guidance to help promote the event.
What are the benefits for the organizer?
- Given that the organizer is the one spearheading the activity, they can support this cause in a manner that suits their capacities and reflects their interests;
- A source of pride for the organizer, through their involvement in a cause of their choice that brings together people interested in lending their support;
- Marie-Vincent provides logistical support with the event’s organization and planning.
Need more information or clarification? We invite you to contact the philanthropy team!
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Awareness video clips
*Videos only available in French*
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Marie-Vincent in the media | |
*Articles, links and interviews only available in French*
Impact of our awareness video clips
XTRA La Presse
Télé-Québec
Tout le monde en parle
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Marie-Vincent supports young victims of sexual violence by providing them with the services they need under one roof, in collaboration with its partners.
We are helping to build a protective community by providing psychotherapeutic services to young victims and their families, and by helping children with problematic sexual behaviours. We are also helping to prevent sexual violence through education and by raising awareness, thanks to a variety of trainings and programs.
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