Dans la Rue

Philosophy

Dans La Rue’s mandate is dedicated to working with at-risk and homeless youth in Montreal using a “help without judgement” approach. To this ends it provides programming, service provision and prevention programs gear to the specific needs and realities of street youth and homelessness.

Father Emmett "Pops" Johns

Emmett Johns known as "Pops" is the Founder and president of Dans La Rue. He was born in 1928. Pops started Dans La Rue based on the "help without judgment" philosophy offering food, shelter, support and friendship to street kids in Montreal.

History and Timeline

History and Timeline:

Structure

Dans La rue is run by a volunteer board of directors including a chairman, vice chairman and secretary. The organization employs 65 full-time staff including an Intervention Management team, Bunker Emergency Shelter team, Chez Pops Day Centre staff, Administrative team, Volunteer Support team, Support staff, Education team, Youth team and an on-call Support team and Youth team.

Volunteer contributions

Volunteer contributions: Dans La Rue counts on their active volunteers, whose numbers are estimated to be 135. Volunteers have many opportunities to contribute to the mandate of the organization including working in the Van, on Outreach and Prevention initiatives and in the Day Centre.

Chez Pops Day Centre

The Chez Pops Day Centre offers clients the opportunity to access healthcare, a meal, legal support, peer support, support groups, and crisis counselling including addressing issues of mental illness and distress and poverty. The Chez Pops Day Centre provides services to youth and young adults aged 12–25.

The Bunker

The Bunker is an overnight emergency homeless shelter for youth, aged 12– 21. When it began in 1993, it had 20 beds. It offers street youth the opportunity to spend the night indoors.

The Van

The Van has been a consistent service offered by Dans La Rue since 1988. It is now a volunteer run initiative, delivering food, toiletries and harm reduction supplies to at risk and homeless youth and young adults. The van serves youth and young adults aged 12–25, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Intervention Services

Prevention Programs

including popular education initiatives in high schools educating youth about the realities and risks associated with homelessness.

Access to healthcare: Collaboration with McGill University

Dans La Rue has teamed up with McGill University Pediatric Residency program as well as their Dentistry program. Students in these programs provide health and dental care in the Pops Day Centre to street youth accessing services at Dans La Rue.

The Emmett Johns School

As part of its prevention strategy Dans La Rue emphasizes the importance of education. To this end, they established the Emmett Johns School in 1997. The Emmett Johns School offers high school classes to 20 students at a time, adapted to the unique situation of the lived realities of street youth. They also offer a scholarship fund to support students who wish to further pursue educational goals post high school.

Concordia – Dans La Rue

Concordia – Dans La Rue Project is a collaboration between Dans La Rue and Concordia University. This initiative matches Dans La Rue high school students with Concordia University students enrolled in the Design Art Program. Program goals include developing computer literacy skills, imaging, music mixing, 3d computer animation and video editing.

Board of Directors

The organization is overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors composed of eight people. The board structure includes the following positions: Chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, and five unspecified chairs. In 2009, the Dans la Rue board of directors' seats were filled by:

Board Members

Funding

Dans La Rue is a charitable organization, funded through a number of sources. Fundraising strategies include

Grassroots strategies

Funding from private foundations, public foundations, organizations