“I’ve had festive Christmases outside, so I get a little nostalgic sometimes, but that’s okay. I would like to be with my family, but I can call them. »
Samuel (fictitious name), whose identity is protected by the Youth Protection Act, cannot go out for Christmas. Like several other young people housed at the rehabilitation center for boys in Cité-des-Prairies, an establishment in the east of the island of Montreal managed by the Department of Youth Protection (DPJ), Samuel is there on order. court to serve a sentence for an offence. Others have failed here after going around the other resources of the DPJ. “Here, it’s the end of the line”, summarizes the speaker Michel Brière.
Samuel still remembers his first Christmas in Cité-des-Prairies. He had found it difficult. But today, it has become “normal”: he appreciates the holiday atmosphere that reigns in the units — the complicity, the energy — and participates with pleasure in the various activities organized by the workers. “I signed up for everything! he says with anticipation.
Every year, for 28 years, the intervener Michel Brière has been there on Christmas Day and organizes activities to allow young people to feel special. “It’s a bit of our adult guilt, we want to compensate for the guys who have to stay here,” he explains. And it’s appreciated, he says. “Some young people go out with their families, but call us back after a few days because they want to come back: the parents are on the rumba, there’s nothing in the fridge, they prefer to be here. »
This year, Michel will transform the cafeteria into an arcade and cinema room, with pop corn and hot dogs. There will also be sports tournaments and other skill contests. Those who have a right to go out, but who are not with their parents for various reasons, will also be able to go and play at the laser tags and will be invited to a Christmas brunch at the restaurant. “I find it important to show them that yes, it is difficult to be alone at Christmas, but that they are not the only ones to experience this”, explains the speaker.
Christmas baskets project
On the bland walls are displayed countless art projects made by young people over the years. Christmas trees and decorations brighten up the atmosphere. There is also a music studio, a double gymnasium, a weight room, a swimming pool, cooking, motorcycle and upholstery workshops, two cafeterias, libraries, video game rooms and classrooms.
But in the secure area, with its long concrete corridors, the tiny rooms permanently locked, the surveillance cameras, the fenced inner courtyard and the panic buttons permanently worn by the staff, it is difficult to forget that we are here in a prison for young offenders. Several television and film crews have also come to shoot penitentiary scenes there over the years. The money thus earned is used to set up projects to improve the lives of young people, explains Michel.
One of the projects funded in part by filming is that of the Christmas baskets, set up three years ago, in response to the COVID. Since the parents could no longer come to the center for the Christmas party, young people suggested making Christmas baskets for them to allow them to have a nice holiday season despite everything.
I find it important to show them that yes, it is difficult to be alone at Christmas, but that they are not the only ones to experience this.
Since then, every year, Cité-des-Prairies stakeholders enter into partnerships with various organizations to set up a real store in the auditorium. Those who wish can fill their basket and personalize it for their family. Families who can travel come to pick it up directly at the centre. Teams do home delivery for others.
“It was a real wake up call “, explains Michel Brière, who evokes the misery in which certain families live and which can explain, in part, the presence of certain young people in Cité-des-Prairies. “It’s both touching and confronting,” he says.
He does not hide it, the relationship between the parents and the DPJ is not always simple. “We are not the best friends, summarizes Michel. But there, with the Christmas baskets, it allows you to have a different relationship. They are happy to see us. »
Discomfort and thanks
“It’s magical,” says Annie Bastien, deputy director of the boys’ program at the DPJ, watching the snow fall on this day when the Christmas baskets are distributed. She grabs a wrapped turkey from the truck and puts the music on her phone while the rest of the team unloads boxes of groceries to the sound of a Mariah Carey classic.
Dressed in festive colors, with Christmas lights around their necks and reindeer antlers on their heads, they will ring the doorbell of the mother of one of the youngsters housed in Cité-des-Prairies. The magic wears off quickly, when they set foot in the apartment building, from which emanates a strong smell of marijuana. At the very top of the stairs, the lady is waiting for them in the hallway. The brown door to her apartment is closed. “Leave that in the hallway,” she says without further emotion, before sending them back with a barely audible thank you. Obviously, she has no desire for officials from the DPJ to enter her home. A neighbor comes to inquire about this visit. On the floor below, a woman in a camisole comes to meet the team in the hope of obtaining a cigarette.
It’s not that cold every time. In another apartment building, a lady greets the team with warm thanks, which she whispers, as someone is sleeping inside the apartment. In another residence, it is the youngster himself, on a weekend outing with his parents, who proudly welcomes the team with his many brothers and sisters, under the hesitant gaze of the mother.
For Samuel, as for many young people who participate in the Christmas basket project, it is a way of helping his family and wishing them a Merry Christmas. “My mother tells me that it helps her a lot, it allows her to give more gifts to my brothers and sisters. I find it good. »