CALEB NICKERSON
PONTIAC April 22, 2020
Along with schools, daycares and other institutions closing their doors over the past month, the after school programs and other activities carried out by the Pontiac Maison des Jeunes have also been interrupted.
Even with students isolated in their homes, the staff of the youth organization have still been keeping up with their young members.
“We’re still working with the communities, we’ve had online activities with youth in the area, whether it be just mental health group chats, or just to see how everyone’s doing, and share concerns,” explained MDJ coordinator Desiree Tremblay-Giroux. “We’ve also been posting different activities on our Facebook pages.”
She added that they’ve had to cancel much of their summer programming, such as baseball, soccer or camp.
“It’s a different kind of everyday working, so we’re trying to change and adapt to what can work for everyone now,” she said, adding that the online video conferences have been engaging some of their children. “We do them twice a week, and we have regulars and we have one or two that just drop in, it’s by invite only so that no strangers can go in our group chats. Parents sometimes partake in them also.”
“It’s kind of like when they come to the youth centre, there’s a little bit of structure but there’s also a bit of free range, go with the flow,” she continued. “It all depends on how everyone’s feeling. If they’re feeling dark and gloomy, well we try and brighten up their spirits, if they’re feeling creative, well we we’ve played games online …”
Tremblay-Giroux said that the young people in their group are adjusting well to the new reality.
“They’re generally ok, they adapt very well and they miss their peers but they do reach out to them, which is nice,” she said. “They’ve expressed that the group chats are nice because then they see people that are not in their own household.”
The staff of the MDJ have had their hours reduced, but are still taking part in activities, as well as delivering food and groceries to people in their communities.
