ANNUAL ACTIVITY
REPORT2016
Centre Action Life Without Fear, Life Without Limits, Life With Pride…
ACTION CENTRE 2016 ANNUAL ACTIVITY RAPPORT
Page 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS & MANAGEMENT ......................................... 2
ACTION CENTRE … SAFE HAVEN… ........................................................................................... 3
2016 STATISTICS .............................................................................................................................. 4
BOARD OF DIRECTORS ................................................................................................................ 5
THE ORGANIZATION AND ITS STRUCTURE ................................................................................. 6
THE SERVICES OFFERED ................................................................................................................ 7
DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES: SCOPE AND SCALE .................................................................. 9
2016 PHOTOS GALLERY ............................................................................................................. 10
MEMBER- STATISTICS ................................................................................................................... 11
STAFF, VOLUNTEER AND INTERN STATISTICS ........................................................................... 12
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AND COLLABORATION ........................................................ 13
COMMUNITY PARTNERS ............................................................................................................. 14
PROGRAMS AND GOVERNEMENT GRANTS .......................................................................... 15
2016 BUDGET ............................................................................................................................... 16
THE ACTION CENTRE … AWARENESS RAISING CENTRE ......................................................... 167
TRIBUTE .......................................................................................................................................... 17
THE ACTION CENTRE IN THE COMMUNAUTY ......................................................................... 19
RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF OUR MEMBERS / COMMUNITY ....................................... 20
CONTACTS ................................................................................................................................... 21
APPENDIX ..................................................................................................................................... 22
ACTION CENTRE 2016 ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT
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MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS & MANAGEMENT
The Action Centre is a dynamic organization, widely open to the
movements of society in all its diversity. Welcoming people with physical
and cognitive disabilities.
It is with great pleasure that we present this Annual Report, which marks
our 19th-year anniversary.
The Action Centre has experienced a significant evolution and is proud
to stand amongst the most renowned centres in Montreal.
The year 2016 was rich in achievement and energy. Various measures
were taken to meet the Centre’s financial needs, despite the difficulties
and gaps, we were able to achieve a balanced budget. However, the
Centre still needs support from the government and the contribution of
its community.
We would like to congratulate all our employees, without them nothing
would be possible; our teachers who allow members to experience
each course as a unique experience; the Board of Directors, our very
dear donors, thanks to them, the Centre keeps its doors open; last but
not least, the Montreal community for its unwavering support.
Ilham Bouzouma
Senior Manager-Centre Joanne Heward
Chair-Centre
ACTION CENTRE 2016 ANNUAL ACTIVITY RAPPORT
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ACTION CENTRE … SAFE HAVEN…
Today, we live in a society accepting of diversity, whether cultural or physical. People
with physical and/or cognitive limitations also have a place in our society. They do
not always have the psychological or moral support that should come from their
relatives or their entourage. Sometimes, the daily implications of a disability can cause
relatives and friends to distance themselves. In some cases, families need rest
because caring for a person with a disability can be arduous. To this end, the Action
Centre is an effective alternative for these people, their caregivers and the
government.
The Action Centre’s mission is to integrate its members with
disabilities into society, with a view to defending their right
to live without limits. Founded in 1998, the bilingual Centre
offers structured educational and recreational activities
throughout the year by mobilizing all its human, financial
and material resources. Its objective is to enable members
to develop their skills, increase their self-esteem and
globally improve their quality of life.
Our organization also offers tremendous savings to the
government in terms of cost avoidance of wages and
social services of up to $3.5 million per year.
The current challenge is to cope with fluctuations in
government grants and subsidies that are increasingly
variable and restricted, often limiting how the funds can be
used. This can make it challenging to meet the
organization’s financial needs.
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2016 STATISTICS
19th ANNIVERSARY
170 ACTIVE MEMBERS
60 MEMBERS AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE CAPACITY
49 ANNUAL ACTIVITIES
2,638 HOURS OF REALISED ACTIVITIES
6 FULL-TIME & 18 PART-TIME EMPLOYEES
6 TEACHERS
42 VOLUNTEERS, 12,289 HOURS VOLUNTEERED
30 INTERNS, 2,650 INTERNSHIP TRAINING HOURS
45 COMMUNITY PARTNERS
ACTION CENTRE 2016 ANNUAL ACTIVITY RAPPORT
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Action Centre’s Board of Directors consists of individuals representing various
organizations. According to the Centre’s bylaws, five (5) Board of Director seats are
allocated to active members of the Action Centre. The selection of candidates for
the board is made by elections organized at the annual general meeting.
Following the elections held at the general meeting on 16 March 2016; 11 candidates
were elected and/or re-elected to serve on the new Board of Directors. The following
table lists the 2016-2017 Board of Directors, their titles and professions.
Title Name Profession
Chair Joanne Heward Chair, Heward Groupe Inc.
Vice-Chair Andrew Lindsay Managing Partner, Lindsay Strategy
Group
Secretary Nancy Ryan Teacher, PACC
Treasure Mike Gareau Business Consultant
Directors
Audrey Hamilton Actif Membre, Centre Action, former
Surgical Nurse
Arik Azoulay Owner and Director, Les Pavillons Lasalle
Chuck Frosst Chief Operating Officer, Nakisa Inc.
Maria Mustillo Founding Member, Action Centre
Daniel Jarry Founding Member , Action Centre
Seymour Silverman Member, Centre Action, former CTV
Videographer
Nigel Bicknell Member, Centre Action
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THE ORGANIZATION AND ITS STRUCTURE
The Action Centre is a community organization where most of its strategic decisions
are approved by the Board of Directors. Its staff consists of the general management
which oversees two entities: administration and service delivery. The number of
permanent positions in the Action Centre is six employees including the director plus
an external accountant. The rest of the employees are part-time, funded through
various government and municipal programs. Other placeholders join the Centre to
help it achieve its mission. These are gifted teachers, volunteers and interns from
various public and private institutions. In addition, a team of six members of the Centre
makes an Activity Committee supported by the director to better select and plan
sports and recreational activities.
Board of Directors
Senior Manager Ilham Bouzouma
Business
Administrator
Amine Rachi
Supervisor Tara Dussoye
Companions
Summer G. Students
Teachers
CREP, PACC, other
Accounting
Technician
(extern)
Nancy Guitard
Activity Committee Daniel J., Maria M, Audrey
H., Freddy A.
Rosa B., Paul W.
Membre
Services
Administration
& finance
Volunteers
Stagiaires
Caregivers Melissa Goudreau Abdellah Ettouhami Saly Bah
ACTION CENTRE 2016 ANNUAL ACTIVITY RAPPORT
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THE SERVICES OFFERED
The Centre offers a wide range of diversified services. They are grouped as
follows:
Training and Coaching
The Action Centre conducts 26 well-structured weekly
activities and workshops, year-round. The activities and
workshops fall under the following 4 pillars (see
Appendix 1):
• Education
• Health & Wellness
• Arts & Creativity
• Community Participation.
In 2016, a new theatre workshop was added to the
program. All activities are guided and supervised by
specialized teachers and facilitators from school boards
and specialized institutions in the region.
Respite and Support
The Action Centre offers quality service to its members
and facilitates their integration into a stimulating,
supportive, encouraging and safe atmosphere. Thanks to
the Centre’s motivated and committed team of support
assistants, it provides families, caregivers and private and
government residences significant assistance and
respite. With an average daily attendance of 45
members, with each member spending on average of 6
hours at the Centre, the Centre offers over 67,000 hours
of respite per year.
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Leisure & Social Activities
The Action Centre also provides a variety of recreational
activities that helps members thrive. This year, the
management in conjunction with the Activities
Committee, increased the number of recreational
activities outside the Centre during the summer to
encourage members to explore their community. Our
members enjoyed all our activities, based on the results
of periodic satisfaction surveys.
Socio-professional Integration
Through a provincial program, our Centre provides
personalized support and coaching for members
wishing to enter the workforce. The latter consists of
nine active members divided into three workspaces:
office work, cashier and reception. As a result, new
adapted equipment has been installed to facilitate
their work. They benefit from supervision from a
specialized teacher who works collaboratively with
management. Her mission is to coach and evaluate the
members throughout the duration of their contracts.
The Action Centre also attracts volunteers and interns
who wish to have an enriching experience while
helping the Centre to fulfill its mission.
ACTION CENTRE 2016 ANNUAL ACTIVITY RAPPORT
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DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES: SCOPE AND SCALE
All activities are carried out at the Centre or externally. In addition to the 26 activities
that constitute the four pillars of the Centre’s weekly program, more than 25 leisure
activities were carried out in 2016, as shown in the table below:
4 Key Educational Programme Structures (Appendix 1, 2)
Date Activity Members per activity Duration of the
activity (hours)
All Year
Education Health & Wellness Arts & Creativity Community Participation
Average attendance of 16 members per activity
2,5 hours per activity
Social and Leisure activities (Appendix 3, 4)
2016-01-22 2016-02-12 2016-03-04 2016-03-25 2016-04-22 2016-05-20 2016-05-25 2016-06-17 2016-07-06 2016-07-15 2016-07-29 2016-08-03 2016-08-19 2016-09-02 2016-09-16 2016-09-30 2016-10-14 2016-10-28 2016-11-09 2016-11-18 2016-11-21 2016-12-02 2016-12-16
Extravaganza Bingo Night St-Valentine’s Dance Shopping and Cinema (Alexis Nihon) Sugar Shack (St-Eustache) Bowling Tournament (Rose Bowl) Sunshine Dance Party Spring Brunch BBQ Summer Brunch Visit- Montreal Old Port Picnic (Parc Bois-de-Liesse) Picnic- Mrs. Ginger’s house (Ile Bizard) Summer Dance Corn Roast (Parc des Rapides) Shopping and Cinema (Place Côte Vertu) Spaghetti Dinner Apple Picking Halloween Dance Fall Brunch Visit- Fine Arts Museum African Intercultural Day Christmas Shopping (Carrefour Angrignon) Christmas Dance
33 52 35 30 42 51 52 63 48 43 36 61 57 53 43 65 27 52 44 27 55 39 75
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
6 hours
ACTION CENTRE 2016 ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT
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2016 PHOTO GALLERY
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46%
54 %
Female Male
MEMBER STATISTICS
Growth in active membership
Gender
Age
Disability Type
Housing Type
10
150170
1998 2010 2016
7%
29%
85%
45%36%
70%
13% 17%
24%
49%
27%
0-44 45-64 ≥65
Auditory Visual Motor Cognitive Physical
Private Public Semi-Public
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1500
1900
2500
2650
2013 2014 2015 2016
4354
65007200
12289
2013 2014 2015 2016
STAFF, VOLUNTEER AND INTERN STATISTICS
Growth in full and partial time Employees
Growth in Volunteer Hours
Growth in Internship Training Hours
20%
28%30%
2014 2015 2016
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COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AND COLLABORATION
We maintain, enjoy and solicit vital partnerships with a variety of loyal and dedicated
community partners and institutions, which are critical to our ability to deliver as many
programmes and activities as we commit to. The following table highlights the
commitments and contributions of these partner organizations to our programmes:
Human, Material and Financial Resources, Volunteers/ Trainees, in kind media/
publicity and Networking/ Awareness.
Organisations Community Partners and their Collaboration
Human Resources (Employees,
Stagiaires, Volunteers,
Teachers)
Material
Resources
Financial
Resources
Information/
Publicity
&Networking
Resources
STM (Adapted Transport)
Moisson Montréal
PACC, CREP
Faubourgs, Cavelier Lasalle,
Dawson, Vieux Montréal, UQAM,
Concordia University, Woodland
Christian School
AlterGo
Emploi Québec
CIUSSS
Corrections Canada and the
Ministry of Public Service of
Quebec
YMCA, Tajet
City of Lasalle
RIOCM, ROPMM
Global TV
Nutri-Centre LaSalle
CROM, CRDITED, CHSLD, CLSC
City of Montreal
The Bagg Street Klezmer Band
Les Pavillon Lasalle
TC Media/ Messager, Global Tv
Action Centre Foundation
Sami Fruits, Fruttasi, Maxi, IGA,
Pharmaprix, Pâtisserie Lafreniere
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COMMUNITY PARTNERS
A huge thank you goes to all our partners…
*9
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0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
160%
180%
200%
2013 2015 2016
Federal
Provicial
Municipal
PROGRAMS AND GOVERNEMENT GRANTS
The Centre receives financial support annually from federal, provincial and municipal
government departments and institutions. Thus far, the Centre has five main
programs, allocated directly to cover expenses related to: operation, salaries,
member support, payment of part of the rent, summer activities, recreational and
sports activities. However, the Centre is still in need of more support from the
government, public and private institutions to continue to provide members with the
services that meet their needs.
The programs have undergone significant changes in recent years. This development
is explained by the significant economic, social and community role played by the
Action Centre, which is increasingly gaining the confidence of these governmental
and municipal partners. The following graphs show the evolution of the federal,
provincial and municipal programs from 2013 to 2016:
ACTION CENTRE 2016 ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT
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2016 BUDGET
Revenue
Expenses
43%
49%
7%
1%
Donation- Action Centre Fondation Gov't Grants & subsidies Membership & Internal fundraising Misc.
16%
24%
1%
53%
4%2%
1%
Administration Rent, Maintenace,Insurance
Office Supplies /Equipments
Member Services/Social Activities
Professional Fees Marketing / Telecom. Misc.
ACTION CENTRE 2016 ANNUAL ACTIVITY RAPPORT
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THE ACTION CENTRE … AWARENESS RAISING CENTRE
As part of its involvement in the community, the Action Centre has conducted
awareness-raising sessions of the daily life of disabled people. In addition, the Centre
participated in a medical and social study for the support of physically,
psychologically or cognitively disabled persons.
In-house Awareness Day: Mark Nixon’s Story with his disability
This presentation was held in April 2016, and was
moderated by Mark Nixon, a friend of the Centre.
Mark is a chef and basketball player. He had a very
serious accident that shattered his personal and
professional life. This presentation was an opportunity
for Mark to reveal how he managed to overcome the
effects of this tremendous hardship with bravery. He
encouraged the members of the Centre to adopt a
stimulating and positive lifestyle approach to living in
peace with their disabilities. The members of the
Centre really enjoyed these kinds of presentations,
based on the testimony of a few…
External Awareness Day
In order to get closer to the community and raise
awareness particularly amongst youths to the daily life
of people with disabilities, the Action Centre organizes
awareness days in schools. For example, the last
presentation was at St. Raphael elementary School.
International Visit (France)
The Action Centre had a visit from a French group
from the John Bost Foundation. This visit was for a
medical/social study for the support of persons with
physical, mental or cognitive disabilities.
TRIBUTE
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It is with great sadness that the Centre has lost three of its active members and one
dedicated volunteer. They are: Ms. Jocelyne Hamel, Mr. Peter Shapiro and
Ms. Karène Rietschin who were valued members and Jimmy Sisco who was a
dynamic and helpful volunteer. They will be missed and they will always remain
present in our hearts.
On behalf of the members and staff of the Action Centre, we extend our deepest
condolences to their families.
Jocelyne Hamel
Jimmy Sisco
Peter Shapiro
Karène Rietschin
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THE ACTION CENTRE IN ITS COMMUNITY
The Centre works every year to develop its partner network and strengthen its
involvement in the community. Below is a list of some of the organizations and
institutions where the Centre participated in their activities and events in 2016. Our
participation generally involves assisting with significant organizational events,
participating in round tables and other forms of collaboration. The Centre is part of a
new network of specialized recreational organizations in Montreal providing services
to people living with multiple disabilities, recently named the Solution Committee
(appendix 5).
Members
• AlterGo
• Nutri-Centre
• PANAM
• Reconnaissance Ville Lasalle
• Solution Committee
• CCS
• Moisson Montréal
• RIOCM/ ROPMM
AGA
• ALTERGO
• Nutri-Centre
• Moisson Montréal
• Tango
• Action Centre Foundation
Others …
• ROPMM: Accessibility federal law presentation
• AlterGo: Recognition PANAM Soiree, Défi sportif
• Ville LaSalle: Volunteer Recognition Soiree
• CIUSSS/ CCS/ LaSalle Social Development Table
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RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF OUR MEMBERS / COMMUNITY
Accessibility
Operating Hours: 8h 30am to4h30 pm.
5 days/week, 50 weeks /year
Closed: Statutory holidays & Christmas holiday
Premises: Adapted for all member’s needs with
ramps, doors, and adapted tables, chairs, washroom
facilities
Adapted Transport (STM) is coordinated by the Action
Center for the needs of our members
Information/
Communication
Tools
3 Internal billboards, digital communications/ signage
on 2 large flat screens (Inside the Centre), various
marketing/ promotional brochures, flyers, updated
website, phone, email, Seasonal calendar for
Educational programmes and Social/ Recreation
activities, listed in directory of Organizations of Greater
Montreal, AlterGo, Action Bénévoles of Montreal and
various CLSCs, and Rehabilitation Centres.
Web Site www.centreaction.org
Training Session Altergo, Centre Action, ROPMM
Serving Greater Montréal and surrounding areas
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CONTACTS
Direction
Ilham Bouzouma
514-366-6868 ext.229
www.centreaction.org
Administration & finance
Amine Rachi
514-366-6868 ext.222
Local Address
Action Centre
2214 Dollard Avenue, LaSalle, QC H8N 1S6
Services of Membres
Tara Dussoye
514-366-6868 ext.226
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APPENDIX
APPENDIX 1: WEEKLY PROGRAMME
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APPENDIX 2: ACTION-RÉACTION JOURNAL
Le journal
Action Réaction
En collaboration avec le
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APPENDIX 3: SOCIAL ACTIVITIES CALENDAR WINTER/SPRING
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APPENDIX 4: SOCIAL ACTIVITIES CALENDAR SUMMER/ FULL
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APPENDIX 5: SOLUTION COMMITTEE
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