Connecting for Caring in Montreal

Connecting for Caring in Montreal An evening of stories, music, creative expression and conversation celebrating caring as love in action in Montreal. Connecting for Caring brings people together through stories, poetry, music, art and shared conversation to explore caring not only as something private or personal, but as something that shapes our communities and our shared lives. At the heart of the evening is a question: What would it mean to become a country that recognizes and strengthens our capacity to care for one another? Connecting for Caring grows from the book Courage to Care: Ripples of Love in Action, a curated collection of more than 160 stories, poems, photographs, artwork and other creative expressions revealing the many ways people across Canada care for one another. The book explores caring as ethical scaffolding — a force that binds us together and an expression of love in action. Caring can be messy, tough and unyielding, with no guarantees of ending well. At the same time, it can be full of blessings, radiance and grace. Courage to Care reflects a broad community of caring: family members, friends, neighbours and professional supporters alongside older adults, disabled people, children and youth at risk, people living with mental illness, dementia, long-term illness, addictions and homelessness, and people receiving long-term, hospice or palliative care. It also includes caring from the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous people. Early responses to the book suggest that this is a conversation whose time has come — one that offers connection and possibility at a time when fear, despair and polarization can so easily pull people apart. The Montreal gathering is part of a growing national Connecting for Caring conversation, with four simple intentions: to let people giving and receiving care know they are not alone; to honour caring with beauty; to weave our caring together; and to make support for caring a provincial and national priority. In Montreal, people will come together across languages, cultures, generations and experiences to listen to stories, share their own experiences and consider what becomes possible when the caring that already surrounds us is seen, valued and strengthened. Come listen, reflect, meet others and add your own story to the conversation. Because caring may be personal, but none of us does it alone. We are grateful to the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, a program of the Azrieli Foundation Canada, and to the funders, partners, contributors and community members whose support is helping make Connecting for Caring possible.