Last month, we asked you to keep your fingers crossed for two of our programs, and you did, and I am happy to report that we were able to continue into 2017 with both the Tandem Program and our Hypersexualization Prevention Program!!!

On the night of January 16, Borough Council unanimously granted the Tandem Program a two-year convention to continue working on urban security and crime prevention issues with our neighbourhood citizens! Montreal City Council had decided that the program needed a revamping in 2015. We worked with an outside consultant and committee for a number of months and there were differences in opinions on how the project should be run, where and with whom. There was much information and mis-information, however the dossier never moved up City Centre’s list. The Borough decided to extend our contract for another two years, while more work will be done on the Tandem dossier.

So Brigitte, Eero, Geneviève and Joe will be most happy to respond to any questions you may have on issues related to living safely in your community. We offer, among other services, information sessions to tenants, kiosks, home security evaluations, animations for youngsters, teens and seniors. For more information on all our Tandem services, please visit our website at www.preventioncdnndg.org. We will also tailor our services to meet your needs.

The other news is that the Hypersexualization Prevention Project(s) are able to continue until June of this year minimally. The Project has been a partnership with the Table de Concertation Jeunesse CDN for the past number of years. When funds from Provincial Government’s Public Security Minister dried up, we at Prevention CDN-NDG, with the help of Table de Concertation Jeunesse CDN were able to keep Julie and Fanny on staff until the end of 2016. Five funding applications were also filled out and sent to various levels of government on different projects dealing with equality, sexual exploitation and giving a voice to young women.

Our stress levels went up when we didn’t hear back from the potential funders. Our partners at the Table sat down to discuss the matter and came to the conclusion that they can continue to fund the team until the end of June. So we now have a little bit of breathing space to get some answers on our projects while Julie continues to offer prevention workshops to local schools. These workshops cover a variety of themes (intimate photos, sexual exploitation, and sexual violence). Fanny also continues to work at La Voie high school to rally and engage young girls to promote healthy alternatives by promoting local activities. For more information on these services, again please visit our website.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank our funders, our partners and our friends, who supported the above programs when we weren’t sure we would be managing them anymore. So for keeping your fingers crossed, offering a kind word and offering alternative solutions, we are forever grateful.

Terri – Executive Director at Prevention CDN-NDG