The Laurentian Literacy Centre (LLC) actively engages with the community by offering students of all ages confidential and personalized sessions. The non-profit has been operating its free-of-charge services for Québécers in the Laurentian region since 1981. The LLC continues to provide the necessary reading, writing, mathematical, and basic technological skills needed for daily life.
Programs offered at the LLC are adapted to families’ individual needs and differing learning styles to improve their essential life skills and self-confidence. The no-judgement and warm environment hosts multiple opportunities for individuals to build the reading and writing abilities that many people take for granted. This includes phonics, vocabulary, sentence structure, and overall comprehension.
Services include private tutoring, technology assistance, as well as document and referral assistance. The centre currently has 75 weekly 1-hour sessions and adapts to work around learners’ schedules. Although there are a variety of offerings, the centre does not provide learning impairment diagnostic services for its clients.
Executive Director Marlene Dagenais explained that the three key pillars the LLC provides to its clients are approach, flexibility, and overall compassion. This begins with the initial screening assessment over the phone, then a 15-minute appointment with the client.
“For their assessment, I talk to the parents on the phone to understand their needs; then I invite them in for the consultation at the centre. I only speak to the child during the consultation because I want to empower them to want to come and participate,” Dagenais stated.
Although services are free, the centre does charge a $5 fee for appointments cancelled less than 24 hours in advance. Dagenais said that this is to ensure that individuals keep their appointments while also demonstrating the value of her volunteer team’s time.
Over the 2023-2024 school year, the LLC had a team of eight volunteers who dedicated more than 300 hours to meeting client needs.
Mayor of Saint-André-d’Argenteuil Stephen Matthews also dedicates a few hours a week to the centre, helping clients who struggle with higher-level mathematics. As a retired mathematics teacher and tutor with over 30 years of experience, Matthews was approached by Dagenais to work with the centre.
“I think it’s an important service because it is a service available for the English-speaking population. It’s a necessity. With the volunteers there working on literacy and writing, they work to ensure that clients get to the level they require,” Matthews said.
When a client is struggling with a particular subject or skill, centre staff will change and adapt to the student’s needs, Dagenais explained. A substantial collection of teaching styles, platforms, and resources are available at the centre for staff to use in their work.
Matthews also suggested that he’s “noticed through the years that, because technology has become more available, students have begun to lose the ability to think for themselves. They rely a lot on these technologies. We try to find ways to make this fun and relatable. I try to develop my questions towards their interests.”
The centre is one of only 11 community-based literacy organizations across the province that serve Québec English-speaking families and individuals.
“It’s a privilege to teach and bring people where they want to go. I just hope the centre can get the required funding to continue,” Matthews concluded.
The LLC relies solely on funding from the Programme d’action Communautaire sur le terrain de l’éducation (PACTE), the Ministry of Education, and community donations to function.
The LLC is located inside the Carrefour d’Argenteuil at 505 Avenue Béthany, on the third floor, in Lachute. Individuals are welcome to follow the centre’s Facebook page to stay up to date with upcoming events and workshops: https://www.facebook.com/laurentianliteracycentre. Those interested in donating their time for volunteering, money, or books are invited to do so at the centre.
People can also visit the LLC website at laurentianliteracy.ca or call 450-562-3719 to gather more information.
