WHo we are
Our history
This is a story of a mother of a handicapped child, Mrs. Joan Farley, who was determined to
change the life of her son and many others like him. She was determined that no physically
and mentally handicapped person, “protégés”, should lead a lonely life and go unattended
from basic day to day services. As a parent of a handicapped son, she has heard about
Citizen Advocacy by Dr.Wolfensberger at a conference in Winnipeg. A long time volunteer
fighter for quality human services in Montreal, she was excited by the idea of providing the
handicapped person, or protégé, with a volunteer advocate who has their best interest at
heart. Moreso, this volunteer, or advocate, would do so on their own free will, and not
because they were paid to do so.
With this vision, started the organization
named West Island Citizen’s Advocacy
(WICA) in 1976.
It began as a home-run organization to help
those with a disability. The goal was to reduce
the dependency of a handicapped person
on the system to secure the services needed.
As a result of the organization’s growth, Farley
was able to move WICA from her home office
to a small office in Pointe-Claire within a few
years. During that time, she reached many
accomplishments:
- 1983: Started Connexion III to help find handicapped persons jobs.
- 1983-84: Helped start Omega Day Centre.
- 1985: Started Regroupement québécois du parrainage civique.
- 1986: WICA launched its Church Apartment Program (CAP), now known as the Community Apartment Program, which provides semi-supervised, semi-subsidized housing for people with pervasive mental health problems.
- 1992: Started a project called “L’Île des Amis” which is apartment buildings for people with mental health problems. The first building is called Farley House.
- 1994: Started Maison L’Accolade for single parents.
In the 90’s, a new program emerged : Rendez-Vous Arts. RVA is a project within West Island
Citizen Advocacy whose purpose is to provide the opportunity for individuals who face
special challenges to create works of art with the support of a volunteer instructor. The
classes enable participants to integrate socially into their community, develop personal
relationships and increase self-esteem.
This wonderful program was created by Mimi St-Aubin of Citizen Advocacy with the help of
the Projet d’Esther. Since this time, the Federal government, the Lachine Lions Club,
Centraide and private donors have contributed significantly to the program.
After eighteen years as the Executive Director of WICA, Farley stepped down as director in
1994 and passed the torch onto her daughter Mary Clare Tanguay.
In 2003, in honour of Farley’s hard work and dedication to WICA, she was awarded the Order
of Canada and in 2004 the Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson, went personally to Farley’s
home to present her with the Order of Canada. WICA also Started Corbeille de Pain in 2003
to provide food security in the south of the West Island and Dorval.
In 2005, the CAP program was expanded with the construction of an additional apartment
building named Heron House.
In 2009, WICA launched a new program Seniors Advocacy, which aims to help seniors who
are struggling physically, financially, or emotionally. Along with the program’s launch,
another project of WICA, the Bread Basket, became an independent organization due to its
success.
In 2011, WICA took a hard hit with the passing of its founder, Joan Farley at the age of ninety.
Mary Clare Tanguay stepped down as Executive Director in 2015 and was replaced by Mrs.
Marla Newhook.
Mrs. Marla Newhook stepped down in 2020, and the torch was passed onto Mrs. Roya
Jaffari, who continues to head the organization as Executive Director.
Today, WICA is proud to be funded by Centraide, West Island Community Shares, and the
Quebec provincial government on a recurrent basis. WICA was a prime mover of the
Concertation Ouest-de-l’Île which seeks to promote West Island social development, and sits
on many local Tables, sub-committees, and other community committees. It is currently
located at 68 Prince Edward in Pointe-Claire; a building shared with the Pointe-Claire library
and formerly the Valois Protestant Elementary School that first opened in September of 1923.
In October of 2018, WICA expanded its housing program by opening up a transitional house
in DDO called “Sunshine Residence”, in collaboration with the Cheshire Foundation. The
housing project was in response to the growing need for short-to-medium term housing for
those struggling with mental health issues.
