\u201cIt reflects what the organizations tell us. Demand is growing. Community organizations have new clients. People are suffering. More people are getting evicted. More people are being stretched,\u201d she said. \u201cMany individuals are in states of perpetual crisis and the impact on people is quite terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thirty per cent of Quebecers report that they are food insecure, up from 22 per cent last year. That means they\u2019re having trouble accessing healthy food or enough food. For 54 per cent of Quebecers, food has become the main concern \u2014\u00a0ahead of housing and child-related costs, the survey found.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne out of three people in Quebec is experiencing food insecurity at some level,\u201d said Lackman. \u201cThey are wondering where their next meal is coming from. That means skipping meals. It means moms not eating so their kids can bring lunch to school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink how it impacts productivity at work and kids\u2019 ability to learn and to play sports. It is the breaking down of our social fabric. It\u2019s not a short-term thing. It impacts the future. It means not saving; not going to dentist; not being able to pay for medication. So we are going to have a more poor, isolated, sick population going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
People are suffering. More people are getting evicted. More people are being stretched.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTasha Lackman
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCentraide president and CEO<\/p>\n
And with an aging population, it also means fewer people are employed. \u201cIt\u2019s a very bleak portrait,\u201d Lackman said.<\/p>\n
For many Quebec households, the survey also found, housing is\u00a0a major source of instability: 27 per cent of tenants fear getting evicted \u2014 more than last year.<\/p>\n
Before being appointed Centraide CEO in February<\/a>, Lackman, 50, spent four years as executive director of the Depot Community Food Centre<\/a> in Notre Dame de Gr\u00e2ce. <\/p>\n \u201cAt the Depot, we saw demand more than triple for food banking, and people coming in to front-line organizations are more and more in crisis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Last year, one person in three was accessing the services of community organizations for help in addressing their needs, Lackman said: This year the figure was 54 per cent.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted this job because I think that Centraide is one of the organizations in Montreal with the most potential levers to effect change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Through money raised in its annual campaign, which last year raised $72.4 million, Centraide supports a network of 375 community agencies and organizations like the Depot in Montreal, Laval and on the South Shore \u2014 organizations working to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people. It supports them financially, helping more than 800,000 vulnerable people every year, and through leadership training and professional development, Lackman said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is one lever Centraide has. Also, we are connected to the business community in a big way, so we can connect and build bridges and mobilize people to be engaged in the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Centraide\u2019s role, as Lackman sees it, \u201cis to continue to support the social fabric of Montreal through these incredible organizations. The way we support is through long-term mission funding, which is how they can plan. That is our DNA. And then because of these long-term relationships we have, we have access to this incredible knowledge from the ground of the main issues and the solutions. And the next part is: How are we tapping in to that knowledge?\u201d<\/p>\n Centraide \u201cis the second-biggest social lever\u201d after government, Lackman said.<\/p>\n \u201cCentraide and philanthropy can have some impact. But the issues are so big that we need to be influencing the state. \u2026 Centraide is well-positioned to do that because we understand the situation on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n She used an example from the Depot, which has \u201csucceeded in transforming food banking to make it an accessible place for healthy food and a dignified experience.\u201d But it is still a charity model, \u201cand it\u2019s better to have food access than food banks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Carte proximit\u00e9 program, launched in 2020 by the Carrefour Solidaire community food centre<\/a>, supplies prepaid credit cards to families with low income so they can buy healthy food. It\u2019s in place in several organizations and the Depot uses the Carte proximit\u00e9 program in its summer markets.<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw that the program was having a huge impact on people\u2019s lives \u2014 and we saw the potential to do so much more,\u201d Lackman said.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s think about scaling the program so it is more impactful and do research with university players and use the information to be even more strategic in how we influence government.\u201d<\/p>\n The ultimate goal is about \u201cwanting to make our city safe and beautiful for everyone. When we can reduce poverty, we can also reduce polarization in an increasing polarized society,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Lackman, who holds degrees in environmental studies from the University of Waterloo and in social work and law from McGill University, spent more than 10 years at the top-tier law firm Fasken, specializing in real estate financing and institutional partnerships, before leaving corporate law in 2017 for community-focused leadership roles.<\/p>\n She was associate director of strategic initiatives in McGill\u2019s advancement office and then vice-president of philanthropy and community at the Foundation of Greater Montreal<\/a>, where, among other projects, she worked on a first-ever initiative to bring together a number of foundations to support Indigenous-led projects. In early 2022, she took over as executive director of the Depot.<\/p>\n
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