Meet the CBC Black Changemakers from our CIUSSS

CBC Black Changemakers (from left), Kathy Roach, Sharon Pilgrim, Tina Oppong. Credit: CBC/Cassandra Leslie/Ciel Photo
CBC Black Changemakers (from left), Kathy Roach, Sharon Pilgrim, Tina Oppong. Credit: CBC/Cassandra Leslie/Ciel Photo

Three shining lights from CIUSSS West-Central Montreal are being recognized as CBC Black Changemakers. Congratulations to them all!

February was Black History Month. In a series entitled “2023 Black Changemakers,” CBC Quebec highlighted people in the province’s Black communities who are “giving back, inspiring others and helping to shape our future.”

Sharon Pilgrim, Clinical Activity Specialist at CLSC René-Cassin, is the founder of the Afro Canadian Philanthropic Initiative (ACPI), an organization dedicated to supporting Black communities through a shared pool of resources from various donors. In December, ACPI concluded the fifth edition of its Giving Back with Grayson project (named after Ms. Pilgrim’s grandson) by providing 115 gifts of school supplies to children in Montreal.

Kathy Roach is a community worker in the Healthy School Program of our CIUSSS, acting as the liaison between the CIUSSS and the English Montreal School Board (EMSB). “Through her workshops, Kathy Roach has inspired hundreds of Montreal teens from all walks of life to believe in themselves and give back to their community,” the CBC writes.

Tina Oppong is Head Teacher of the Day Program in the Jewish General Hospital’s Child Psychiatry Department. This program, operated in collaboration with the English Montreal School Board, is unique in Canada, enabling children with mental health or behavioural problems to get intensive help, including their own lesson plan, created in conjunction with a team of experts.

Read more about Ms. Pilgrim, Ms. Roach and Ms. Oppong at CBC News.