Unique home in Laurentians houses a unique family

For over 40 years, Maison Emmanuel has housed a group of people, some of whom have lived there since their childhood. Now, as adults, they have, in many ways, become a family.

Nestled in a Laurentian forest about an hour north of Montreal is a cluster of five houses where 22 residents with a wide range of physical and intellectual disabilities or neurodevelopmental disorders, like Down syndrome and autism, live and work together.

Founded in 1983 on farmland in Val Morin, Maison Emmanuel is modelled on the Camphill Movement, which started in Scotland and has grown to 100 communities in 22 countries, including several in Canada. People with and without disabilities live, work and care for each other. Their lives are focused on social, spiritual, cultural and gardening activities. The Maison Emmanuel website states that they take daily inspiration from the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. “For us at Maison Emmanuel, ‘community’ means living and working together in a healthy and stimulating environment. An environment where sociocultural backgrounds and different human skills are not an obstacle but an asset.”

Mary Small came to Maison Emmanuel in 1999 as a volunteer from Scotland. She had intended to stay just a year but remained for an extra two and a half years. After completing her master’s in Social Work in her native country, she returned to Maison Emmanuel three years later to work and became one of three co-directors. She hasn’t seen much turnover since then.

“Some of the kids who came in the 1980s are still here, so the place has evolved with the age of the residents,” said Small. “As the children aged, there was no place for them to go, so we kept expanding.”

Residents, who are accompanied by 23 staff, help as they’re able with cooking, maintenance and in the café they run in nearby Val David. They also do weavery, candle-making and work in the garden. The residents eat and live together in five homes and learn skills in two workshop spaces.

The home also has a partnership with 1001 Pots in Val David, where residents make pottery, which is sold in a café they run in the same town. Although people who live at Maison Emmanuel (some who are under public curatorship) are given as much independence as possible, very few have moved out on their own. “The only ones who have moved on are those whose families have moved and they want them to be closer, or people who develop extreme behaviour that we’re not able to deal with here.”

Maison Emmanuel is a registered charity and receives funding from the province.