• Édifice Projet Genèse / Project Genesis building

Mission Statement

Project Genesis is a community organization committed to the values of social justice, equality and non-discrimination, and empowerment. With our members, we work towards social change with the goal of improving the quality of life of the disadvantaged. More specifically, our goals are:

  • To improve the accessibility of social, government and community services to the disadvantaged (the poor, senior citizens, those with little formal education, new immigrants, etc.),
  • To provide community organizing services on issues of local concern,
  • To promote citizen participation in Project Genesis and other agencies and organizations which provide services to the community.

Project Genesis is a grassroots, non-profit community organization located in Côte-des-Neiges, a culturally diverse neighbourhood of Montreal where many people live below the poverty line.

We support neighbourhood residents in facing and resolving some of their difficult challenges, including housing problems, basic income security, and access to healthcare and other government programs. We see the links between individual problems and broader social inequities, so we provide services that help people resolve individual difficulties while also working on their root causes.

Our Individual Services include our Storefront drop-in centre and our Home Advocacy Services. We provide one-on-one help – including providing legal information, advocacy, and referrals – for a range of problems.

Through our Community Organizing, we work collectively to counteract the causes of some of the problems faced by neighbourhood residents, including working to improve housing conditions through our Housing Rights organizing, and fighting poverty through our Anti-Poverty work.

Project Genesis is a community organization run by staff, volunteers and local residents.

Adopted by Project Genesis’ Board of Directors in June 2020 to contribute to positive change:

“That Project Genesis denounces systemic racism in Montreal toward people of Black and Asian communities and beyond, and that through our neighbourhood-based areas of intervention (housing, welfare, pensions, etc.) and organizational life, Project Genesis seeks to be a part of ending such systemic racism.”

History

Project Genesis is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 as an outcome of a research project that highlighted problems faced by Jewish seniors living in poverty in Montreal.

Located in a storefront on Victoria Avenue in Côte-des-Neiges, the organization’s goal was to improve the situation of the people living in poverty by helping local residents better understand and defend their rights, and by providing a space where people could work together on issues of local importance.

At the modest drop-in centre, which became known simply as “the Storefront”, people could obtain free legal information, advocacy, and referrals for a range of problems, such as dealing with poor housing conditions and difficulties with government social programs. Over the years, Project Genesis worked with members of the community on initiatives responding to local needs, including day care services, access to healthcare, crime prevention programs, food baskets, a barter system, and a minimal-cost cafeteria.

In addition, through its Outreach program, Project Genesis visited apartment buildings to inform neighbourhood residents on their rights and hear their concerns.

In 2001, in response to the growing needs of the organization, Project Genesis moved to its current location, a few blocks away from the old one. Côte-des-Neiges today is a multi-ethnic neighbourhood, with a significant percentage of households still living in poverty and facing a variety of problems.

The Storefront is busier than ever, with staff and trained volunteers providing thousands of interventions per year. Our community organizing work brings together our members, volunteers, neighbourhood residents and other organizations in response to the problems we see people facing in our Storefront. Through our Housing Rights work, we promote access to quality, affordable housing. Our Anti-Poverty organizing works on concrete goals to improve the situation of the poorest in our society.

Learn more

Montreal Serai
We sincerely appreciate the support of our main funders

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FCJA_logo_CMYK80

For a complete list of donors and funders, please consult our Annual Report.

Staff and Board

  • Art extérieur / Exterior art

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2023-2024

Project Genesis members

Candy Barnes
Mohamed Benkiran 

Abiose Cromanty 
Mohamed Ibrahim
Lisa Dick
Suzanna Engel
Erik Hamon
(president)
Roger Myre

Shara Rosen 

Rosario Tapia
Leroy Wedderburn

Administrative staff

Gary Saxe 
Executive Director

INDIVIDUAL SERVICES STAFF

Béatrice Brizi

Arlene Field

Margaret van Nooten

Megan Yu

Iman Sattar

Reception
Corinne Fontaine

 

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING STAFF

Annual Report 2022-2023

(Please refresh the page if the report is not visible)

Thank you to all our donors for contributing to a better future!

Previous Annual Reports

An Inside Look

Take a closer look at the work of Project Genesis through the eyes of volunteers, members, interns, staff, and service users!

Frequently Asked Questions

Click on any question to expand the answer. Please feel free to contact us for more information if needed.

  • À la réception / At reception

No, our Storefront services are available to people from any neighbourhood.

Within our areas of intervention, our Individual Services are available to everyone. For example, we do not refuse service based on immigration status, age, religion, country of origin, neighbourhood in which you live, income or housing situation. Our services are free of charge and confidential.

We typically ask for your name and contact information, as well as some identifying questions (such as your country of origin and date of birth) for filing and statistical purposes. These statistics help us analyze our services and allow us to report on our work to funders. However, we never oblige you to provide any identifying personal information, and we will gladly provide services to you even if you choose not to do so.

No, you do not need a referral.

You can consult our Storefont page for our current opening hours.

We are currently offering our services by telephone, and by appointment when needed. Please call us for more information.

You can call us and receive information by phone. We may also be able to direct you to other services that fit your schedule.

Our Home Advocacy Services bring our Storefront services to people’s homes in the case of mobility problems or visual impairment. However, this service is only available if you live within our service boundaries. Please consult the Home Advocacy Services page, or call us for more information.

We can provide legal information, advocacy and support on a range of issues, including housing, pensions, welfare and other government programs. You can consult our Storefront page for a more complete and detailed list, or call us if you are not sure. If we do not help with your type of problem, we may be able to refer you to other services or organizations.

No, we do not help specifically with apartment searches. However, we can refer you to resources that could help in your search.

Depending on the problem, we can give you information and explain how to follow up. If your building is within our service area, our Outreach team may be able to visit and give information to other tenants. You can also feel free to refer other tenants to our services.

No. Our staff and trained volunteers give information on rights, responsibilities and options based on the law, but we are not a legal aid clinic where you can consult directly with a lawyer. We can refer you to legal services if that is what you need.

We do not provide legal services, such as representing people in court. However, we can refer you to legal clinics or to lawyers if necessary.

We help to fill forms related to our areas of intervention. You can consult our Storefront page for more information. In other cases, we may be able to refer you to other places for help.

We do not offer money or direct financial assistance. We can help by seeing if you are eligible for benefits and helping you to apply for these benefits. We can also refer you to other resources that can help.

Yes! You can consult our Participate page to find out what the various volunteer possibilities are.

Project Genesis is a non-profit organization; people do not pay to access our services. We rely on a combination of public funding, foundation and organizational grants, and private and individual donations to finance our operations. You can consult our Annual Report for a full list of our donors. We are sincerely grateful to them all!

We happily accept all donations, regardless of the amount, and will issue a receipt for any donation of $10 or more. Thank you for your generosity!

  • Au Storefront / At the Storefront