Actionmarguerite – reimagining volunteerism
Advertisement
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/07/2024 (427 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Actionmarguerite’s mission is to provide compassionate care and services for older adults and persons living with complex health needs. The organization is a collective of three personal care homes, Actionmarguerite St. Boniface, St. Vital and St. Joseph, two supportive housing living environments, one at Chez Nous and the other at Windsor Park Place, and an adult day program.
Recently, Actionmarguerite and its neighbour, Résidence Despins, wanted to reimagine volunteerism based on a model developed at St. Amant by creating the conditions for genuine friendships to form for the people they support. This is why Actionmarguerite wanted to forge a new path forward working with Réseau Compassion Network and its community partners.
Before implementing its new volunteer initiative, Actionmarguerite had some initial success with attending volunteer fairs put on by post-secondary institutions but unfortunately the uptake was very limited. Actionmarguerite staff also attended numerous community events with little return for their efforts.

Free Press file photo
Actionmarguerite is a St. Boniface-based organization which provides compassionate care and services for older adults and persons living with complex health needs.
Learning from this, Actionmarguerite decided to try a new tactic – hold an open house where individuals could drop in, participate in an activity, learn about what volunteering or employment could look like at Actionmarguerite and enjoy some light snacks. The success of this approach was overwhelming, having line-ups of people to sign up to volunteer.
Actionmarguerite now once again has a strong active volunteer base with over 80 volunteers which continues to grow to this day. Given this core group of volunteers, the increased emphasis on resident social experiences and personal relationships continues to grow between residents and volunteers.
As an example of the great work volunteers are already engaged in, one of the volunteers at an event got to know one of the Actionmarguerite residents. Stemming from this simple event of bringing people together, a new relationship was formed. This particular resident shared that he hadn’t had a visitor in his life since before the pandemic and that he had given up on life. Through this experience, he said that he found new purpose and joy in living every day.
Stories such as this one highlight the importance of volunteerism and the impact that simple acts of kindness can have in our lives and the lives of those who need it most.
I commend the work Actionmarguerite has undertaken thanks to the leadership of their chief executive officer, Micheline St-Hilaire, to reimagine volunteerism that will benefit the more than 600 people supported by Actionmarguerite. Thanks to the help of community partners and the community volunteers. I truly believe that this investment will continue to yield positive impacts in the lives of residents, volunteers, families and staff for a very long time.

Robert Loiselle
St. Boniface MLA constituency report
Robert Loiselle is the NDP MLA for St. Boniface.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.