Believing in kids - a special kind of faith

Kristine Berey

Pops at the office (photo: Robert Galbraith)

The way he talks about them, you’d think they were his children. And in a way they are.

Pops (aka Father Emmett Johns) is celebrating his 80th birthday, speaking at a press conference about some of the street kids he has helped through Dans la rue, the organization he started 20 years ago.

“Her vice principal called her ‘stupid’ but the kid finished school here and got 95%. All of you who scored 95% in enriched French raise your hands,” he challenges the invited media. He reminds them that it was only in 1991 that he allowed the first TV cameraman to climb aboard the self-financed van he used to distribute drinks and hot dogs to kids who literally had nowhere to go. “I wanted to prove to you — and to the kids especially — that we were there for the long haul. You were surprised that the kids were so polite, so bright.”

Since 1988, when The Van was visited by 3,500 kids, the organization has grown in scope. It now includes The Bunker, providing short term emergency services for youths aged 12-19 and the Chez Pops Day Centre that encompasses an alternative high school, a cafeteria, work-integration programs, services for young parents, tutoring, a front-line outreach team, and music, art and computer rooms.

A glance at the bulletin board in the cafeteria reveals some of the kids’ daily experiences. There’s a notice about a cheap place to store knapsacks, work opportunities that don’t require education or experience, info on health, sexuality, and the YMCA’s job readiness service for young offenders. On a shelf there are pamphlets raising awareness about substance abuse and sexual exploitation.

Outside the cafeteria, the art room, filled with plants and sunlight, beckons — designed to pique any passerby’s curiosity. It is run by animator Maude Thuot and Sandra Murphy, one of 135 volunteers who devote their time to the organization. A locked glass cabinet houses precious art books that kids who wander in can peruse while sitting in a comfortable rocking chair. A wealth of materials is waiting for the kids to try out — the art room feels like home. “We want to create a link between the kids and the artists they read about,” says Thuot, explaining that many of the young people are alienated from their own families and can more easily identify with an artist whose life may have been unconventional but whose work is great nevertheless.

Rules are clearly written on a poster, as they would be in any high school art room, outlining behaviour that fosters an atmosphere of calm, respect and creativity. Only one rule hints that this is not a regular school setting: “Rats in cages or ON their owners.”

Dans la rue also provides regular veterinary care for kids’ pets since for many, their animals ­­­­become a surrogate family.

Sid Stephens, executive director of Sun Youth, remembers the early days of Dans la rue. “There was a lot of criticism from the community and the police. They didn’t feel you should care for runaway kids — it was unheard of at the time to feed kids hot dogs from a bus. They would end up in a police station where they wouldn’t know what to do with them, and then end up in social services. Pops had the kids’ confidence — they knew he wouldn’t betray them.”

Michael Udy, director of Batshaw Youth and Family Centres says Dans la rue is fills an important gap. “[Pops] found a way to turn something that is seen as a blight — a hopeless situation — into something where there is hope. He’s done a good job of marshaling assistance to kids who are truly at the end of the road.”

Now a successful professional, Ray lived on the street for two years as a teen. He sees Dans la rue as essential but says its existence is indicative of a flaw in society where “dead-end kids” don’t really have an equal chance at a decent life. “[Dans la rue] is a band-aid but a band-aid peels off as soon as dampness gets to it. It’s the wound that must be addressed.”

Pops knows almost all the kids he works with have experienced failure — if a kid says he got thrown out of high school, Pops retorts that he himself got thrown out of university. Some kids have taken his encouragement to heart and have gone on to higher education and employment, rebuilding their lives.

“I’ve known rejection, I know the harm it does,” Pops said at the press conference. He downplays his accomplishments. “It doesn’t take a genius to do what I do, just the will to do it.”

It costs over $3 million a year to run Dans la rue, with the bulk of the funding coming from private individuals.

To donate, call 514-526-5222 or visit www.danslarue.org.