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What dissemination looks like:
Click here to see a diagram of the dissemination process and to access corresponding guidebook resources
Why disseminate?
The L’Abri en Ville community decided that to expand beyond ten apartments would risk losing the warmth and intimacy which have been a large part of L’Abri’s vibrancy and success. Hospitals and referring professionals told us that we were successful in responding to the needs of the group of individuals with mental illness whom we set out to help. Having benefited at the outset from the experience of C.A.R.E., we decided to share this model and our own experience with others
With funding from a federal H.R.D.C. grant, a L’Abri committee created a guidebook with very specific advice about how to achieve a similar project in a new community. More recently we have been supported by the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation to continue this work.
How do we help an interested community?
The simplicity of the L’Abri model has already attracted interested people in two Montreal area communities who saw the need for community-supported housing and wished to create their own projects. Our role has been to provide a combination of information and accompaniment as these groups formed and took their first decisions.
Our Harbour in St. Lambert, Quebec, was established in 2004. In the first two years, Our Harbour opened two apartments and they continue to gain community respect and participation. In Chateauguay, Quebec, Les toits d’Émile opened a first apartment in 2004 and a second in 2005. This group also continues to grow and gain community support.
L’Abri en Ville has had a number of contacts with interested individuals and groups in Toronto who wish to learn more about the possibility of establishing a similar project there.
The guidebook – Creating Community-Supported Housing: The L’Abri en Ville Model
The purpose of the guidebook is to inform like-minded groups who have been inspired by our model for community-supported housing. It provides step-by-step guidelines to each aspect of setting up a project based the model.
The guidebook is available on request to groups that are seriously considering a project, and can then be obtained free of charge except for mailing cost.
See the Table of Contents of the guidebook
Conditions for success
Through our collaboration with groups working to create their own projects of community-supported housing for people with a serious mental illness,, we have learned that certain conditions need to be in place as we begin to work with a new group. With the following conditions in place, L’Abri en Ville is confident that success will result from our joint effort:
• Appreciation and acceptance of the core elements of the model, that is: volunteer teams; an independent board of directors; partnerships with mental health, civic and faith communities.
• An understanding that all activities are aspects of community building: education about mental illness; outreach for volunteers; fundraising; activities with residents. The purpose of creating community is to counter the isolation of those with a mental illness by making their inclusion in the larger society one of respect and self-confidence.
• Initial steps have been taken in approaching mental health, faith and civic communities to build knowledge and support.
For more detail about the kind of help that we can offer in the early stages see Steps to Building Your Organization
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