Mission
The mission of Maison Plein Cœur is to support people living with HIV-AIDS. We guide people living with HIV-AIDS on their individual journeys toward a more active social life and greater independence. In doing so, we help improve their quality of life by providing them with a place where they can share and obtain information.
To accomplish the Maison Plein Cœur’s mission, its employees and volunteers guide each and every individual along their personal path by giving them tools they can use to better adjust to life with HIV.
Values and principles
Since its inception, Maison Plein Cœur has taken an approach based on the following principles and values, which guide the spirit and life of the organization:
- Holistic health, which takes a whole-person approach to health;
- GIPA and MIPA principles. Maison Plein Cœur has worked tirelessly to apply these principles in an effort to increase the meaningful participation of people living with HIV-AIDS in the various management aspects of the organization: governance, decision-making, service delivery, program evaluation and improvement, etc. This principle recognizes the central role that people living with HIV-AIDS have within the organizations that serve them.
- Risk and harm reduction;
- Openness and respect for the diversity of experiences and realities of people living with HIV-AIDS, without discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age, sex, gender identity, residential status, physical or mental disability, faith or any other marginalized identity;
- Anti-oppression andanti-stigmatization;
- Non-judgment;
- Empowerment of individuals;
- Protection of confidential information and records;
- Evidence and science-based programming;
- Accessible programs and services;
- Transparencyin the governance and management of the organization;
- Accountabilityto the various key actors in the organization
- Impact and process evaluations of our programs and services.
All Maison Plein Cœur employees, volunteers, and users are required to abide by our code of ethics and code of conduct, which incorporate these principles and values.
Tout employé, bénévole et usager de Maison Plein Cœur est tenu de respecter notre code d’éthique et code de vie qui intègre ces principes et valeurs.
History
Out a desire to help people living with HIV-AIDS cope with solitude, isolation, and poverty, especially those living in the Centre-Sud district of Montreal, Louis-Marie Gagnon, Roger Poirier, and Rourk C.E. Simon founded Maison Plein Cœur in 1991 in a small apartment on Panet Street. We call these men the three founders of Maison Plein Cœur because they set up all of the operations required for the project to run smoothly.
Thanks to ongoing support from the Sisters of Providence, Maison Plein Cœur has been able to fulfill its mission, especially after it moved to its current address on Dorion Street.