L'Amitient and its mission

	L'Amitient...
Where individually planned programs of activities help people to live and grow together in mutual support.

Located in Mont-Tremblant, some 140 kilometers north of Montreal,
L’Amitient is a community dedicated to helping people living with intellectual
handicaps which are often associated with behavioural disorders.

Our 135 acre farm with its three houses provides the setting where each person
lives as a member of a family and through household, farming and artistic activities
can develop their mental, physical esthetic and social skills and become increasingly
able to contribute to the growth and well-being of the entire community.

Our mission and our goals.

Maison Luc Chapdelaine	Maison Lucie Gervais	Maison Jean de Grandpré

In our three houses , we welcome people living with intellectual handicaps. We promote mental, spiritual, artistic, and physical growth for our community members. We meet this mandate by providing a home where each person lives as a family member, works in the home and on the farm, and develop social skills.
To achieve our goals, we try to create and develop an agricultural and artistic community in which it's members support the growth and well-being of everyone.
To describe it more precisely, let speak our managers, Luc and Shelley:
"Community building is like creating a beautiful tapestry, weaving together all the individuals to produce a harmonius togetherness with smooth, consistent gestures. We must start with a well built loom and mount it with solid thread, then adjust the tension so that it's just right and you can begin. Having an idea of the use of the end product is helpful but not necessary. And knowing what colours you want is good but may vary with time. As you begin to weave you may break threads or got knots; you must always take the time to untagle or repair any loose pieces otherwise it will appear in the end product."

Luc and Shelley continue:
"As we began to weave together the different elements that make up L'Amitient we began to see a pattern and forms were emerging that was far more beautiful than what we first imagined; a harmonious blend of work and fun, challenge and joy, struggle and peace. The basic pattern is the ups and downs, the ins and outs of daily activities. The celebation of various festivals are ours markers and regulators throughout the year. We celebrate many things: the lanterns of St. Martin, the beginning of Advent, Christmas, New Year's Day, St. Valentine, Easter, Maple Sugar time, May Day, St. John's, and of course each and every birthday is cause for celebrating! So, you can see our months are well defined with unique character."

On the farm, many tasks are entrusted to our friends, and in that way they can contribute to the family life: gathering wood for warth and construction, feeding and watering all the animals, milking the cows and make the butter. There's also cooking, cleaning, building and repairing, cutting, hauling and piling. Composting, planting, hoeing,... So many areas of work.

There are creative activities too!
Weaving, painting, felting, spinning. Bowling or outings and shopping.
And there is a very special evening called Community Assembly where everyone gets a chance to share their joys, sorrows, concerns and questions.

As a final to this brief description of our mission, listen one more time Luc and Shelley's words:
"From the mundane to the extraordinary sharing these rhytms with our friends creates colorful moments that deepen our commitment and understanding for the need to continue this weaving of lives. It is difficult to put into words the magic effect of this creation of love; but we invite you to come and see our giant loom where human hearts pull the threads of destiny and weave a tapestry where every colour fits and no thread is too bare. This masterpiece integrates differences and makes a magnificient design."

"House parents"

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8865, rue Léonard, Mont-Tremblant, Québec J8E 2A5
819-425-9574

L'Amitient...