{"id":2083,"date":"2022-01-08T18:51:09","date_gmt":"2022-01-08T18:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.abovas.com\/news\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T16:14:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T16:14:23","slug":"news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.abovas.com\/en\/news\/","title":{"rendered":"News"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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News<\/span><\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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2022 - New Social Accompaniment Service<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In 2019, ABOVAS hired a project manager to research possible needs in our community. One of them that stood out among its peers was social accompaniment. According to research, people in vulnerable situations have been calling on various organizations and resources to get support while they complete their errands. Until now, no West Island organization was able to directly offer this service. ABOVAS decided that it was equipped and ready to tackle this void, since it already had a list of potential clients, access to amazing volunteers and a presence in the community that inspires confidence. We spent the year 2021 running our pilot project to make sure we crossed every T and dotted every I. Starting in January 2022, every eligible person residing in the West Island became able to call us and regain their sense of autonomy, get out of their isolation, and acquire the things they need. We will strive to continue providing a service qualified as excellent, necessary, and life-changing. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2021 - Abovas\u2019 First Fundraiser<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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On the 24th of October, ABOVAS had its first fundraiser at Mondo Trattoria in Kirkland. A community of supporters gathered over fresh salad, rich spaghetti, and a decadent dessert, as well as participated in a raffle. Sponsors put their trust in what we do and offered their financial support. Others donated items for our raffle and elevated the experience for our participants. Thanks to the collective generosity of our sponsors, donors, and participants, ABOVAS raised a whopping $10,000, helping us further our mission. <\/p>

Platinum level sponsors <\/strong>
PME MTL WI<\/p>

Gold level sponsors<\/strong>
Infotech
Ch\u00e2teau Pierrefonds<\/p>

Silver level sponsors<\/strong>
KBD Insurance
Lianas Senior Transition Support<\/p>

Bronze level sponsors<\/strong>
Sant\u00e9-Mobile A-1
Jenny Mazzaferro Remax agent
Elena Laudi IG Wealth Management
Remax Royal Jordan
West Island Ford
Accent Insurance Solutions<\/p>

Our raffle sponsors:<\/strong>
Rock-a-berry
Artizan
Victor Rose
Kirstin Bennett
Action Sport
Energie Corps
Patricia Empsall
Tazza Di Matina
Annette Hup\u00e9
Elements
La Seranota
Edible Arrangements<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2019 - Accolades Finalist<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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ABOVAS was recognized once more for its important work in the community by being finalists in the Accolades Community Service Award category given by the West Island of Montreal Chamber of Commerce in 2019!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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2017 - 10th<\/sup> Year Anniversary<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Created in 2007 by Andr\u00e9 Hup\u00e9, Paul Bissonnette and Claude Jourdain in collaboration with the CIUSSS and the municipalities of the West Island, ABOVAS has been meticulously matching volunteer companion-drivers with West Island residents who need accompanied-transport to get to their medical appointments. In 2017, the organization celebrated its 10th year anniversary. 10 years of helping people feel supported and cared for, 10 years of giving an outlet to volunteers who want to remain involved in their community, ten years of changing lives. To illustrate this in numbers, in 2017, 135 volunteers had helped 1,896 clients for a total of 16,698 accompaniments. ABOVAS is proud of how far it has come and looks forward to seeing where it can go. Watch this special 10th anniversary video to learn more: <\/p>

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=of631mp419E<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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2017 - Interviewed by CBC<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In 2017, Antoni Nerestant, a journalist at CBC, interviewed ABOVAS on what we do and why we do it. He portrayed our mission by telling the story of Mr. and Mrs. Dion. These two clients discovered ABOVAS during a difficult time in their lives. Mr. Dion had dementia and was now diagnosed with cancer. This meant nearly daily appointments downtown and a whole lot of stress. For them, ABOVAS was fulfilling more than the need for a ride through the busy and sometimes treacherous streets of Montreal; having this service meant the support of a volunteer within the hospital to help with the stress of the appointment and Mr. Dion\u2019s developing health conditions. Mrs. Dion was able to stand by her husband throughout his treatment while having a volunteer by their side to give reassurance and navigate the hospital halls. Having us along alleviated loneliness, overwhelming feelings and gave them a sense of confidence in dealing with the things ahead. <\/p>

What ABOVAS did for Mr. and Mrs. Dion, and still does for many West Island residents, is offer support through volunteer accompanied trips, reduce isolation, and stress, and allow clients to complete their essential needs in confidence.<\/p>

If you\u2019d like to read more about this story, click here: <\/p>

https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/montreal\/west-island-seniors-medical-appointments-abovas-1.4421248<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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2016 - Accolades Finalist<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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ABOVAS\u2019 life-changing impact on its community was acknowledged by the West Island of Montreal Chamber of Commerce. We were a finalist for the Accolades in the category Community Service Award in 2016! <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News 2022 – New Social Accompaniment Service In 2019, ABOVAS hired a project manager to research possible needs in our community. One of them that stood out among its peers was social accompaniment. According to research, people in vulnerable situations have been calling on various organizations and resources to get support while they complete their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2083","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abovas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abovas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abovas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abovas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abovas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2083"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.abovas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4898,"href":"https:\/\/www.abovas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2083\/revisions\/4898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abovas.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}