Message to our Friends

Dear Friends, 

We hope this newsletter continues to find you and your family safe and in good health. 

This month, we’d like to tell you about Ometz’s best kept secret — L’Annexe: our new Ometz Centre for Young Adults which is open for business. Albeit virtually. 

Our plan was to have a grand opening back in the spring of 2020, when L’Annexe’s premises were officially ready. But like the rest of the world, our plans changed. No grand ribbon cutting ceremonies, no tours of this state-of-the-art center which boasts a computer lab, communal kitchen, game room and multi-purpose teaching classrooms. 

That’s not to say we aren’t up and running. Quite the contrary! 

Despite a short delay, our staff were able to pivot all individual and group services to an online and remote mode and meet the needs of our increasingly vulnerable clientele. As we know, many young adults’ social, emotional and mental well-being has been severely impacted by the pandemic. Our L’Annexe staff continues working with increased workloads and responding to the needs of this younger population (ages 16-35), in the areas of mental health, social support, life skills and job training—and to ensure their well-being during this especially challenging time. 

L’Annexe also prides itself on partnerships and building community, and this month collaborated in its second virtual event with Federation CJA, Miles Nadal JCC and UJA Federation of Greater Toronto on the impact of social enterprise employment for young adults with disabilities. The webinar featured a screening of Sock Guys, the award-winning documentary short about a young man with Down Syndrome and his father on a mission to grow a successful, inclusive business and was followed by a lively panel discussion on disability-focused social enterprises in Montreal and Toronto. Stay tuned for more events like these in the coming months and, we invite you to read a Q & A with Lanya McClintock, our new L’Annexe manager who promises great things for 2021.

A heartwarming message of hope made possible thanks to you 

In these challenging times, we also wanted to share an uplifting story about a client who has benefited from our help and the generous support of our donors. V is a 19 year-old young adult living at home with her family and a client at L’Annexe. Despite a lot of family hardships and bullying during her school years, V is a resilient and enthusiastic person who is kind and compassionate to others. 

During the pandemic and with the help of her worker at L’Annexe, she was accepted to college in a Fine Arts program, learned to get around the city by herself, and overcome her shyness and social anxiety. She attends most of the L’Annexe groups and makes other members laugh with her terrific sense of humor. She has blossomed and committed so courageously to her self-improvement and independence-building that she has even surprised herself and facilitated many Creative Tuesdays workshops for others to participate in. According to her worker, “the sky is the limit for V and it has been a real privilege to witness her healing evolution towards self-love and a bright, beautiful future.” To our supporters, thank you for believing in the work we do and allowing us to help clients like V.

Thinking of you!

In this time of social distancing, quarantining and Zoom, we are doing our best to maintain our connection to community and assure our clients that we are here for them. But we know we can’t do it without you: in the weeks ahead, please be on the lookout for news regarding our upcoming fundraising campaign in your inboxes.


With our gratitude ,

Dominique McCaughey
Chief Executive Officer, Ometz

Michael Aronovici
President, Ometz

 

If you or anybody you know needs our services, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

For Media Inquiries:

[email protected]

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