Montrealers came together Sunday at Parc La Charité in LaSalle for the fourth annual Walk of Remembrance to honour the memory of those who spent their last days in the Maison Sault‑Saint‑Louis palliative care home.
The walk was organized by Fondation Maison Sault‑Saint‑Louis which offers free care and support to patients at the end of life and their loved ones.
With the names of those they chose to remember on their backs, participants listened to speeches before a quick warm‑up to hit the road.
Luisa Roviezzo, one of the participants in the Sunday’s walk, said her father got palliative care after being sick for several years.
“He went through a lot in and out of hospitals,” Roviezzero said. “The doctor and the CLSC team of LaSalle suggested we bring him to Palliative, which was a really hard decision for us because we had him at home, but we just couldn’t take care of him anymore.”
Another participant Vanessa Pelletier-Whalen also participated in the walk for her father suffering from illness.
“I’m walking for him and for my mom, who passed away a few years ago,” Pelletier-Whalen said. “It’s important to honour them today.”
Sunday’s event was aiming to raise $70,000, a small part of the $1.5 million it takes each year to provide services to palliative care patients, according to Manon Barbe, president of Fondation Maison Sault‑Saint‑Louis and former LaSalle mayor.
The organization opened a new facility La Maison Sault-Saint-Louis in January 2025. Patients and their loved ones find care and support so that their final days are lived with dignity.
“(Patients) receive the services like they were at home, they don’t have a schedule for eating. They don’t have a schedule for taking a bath or a shower. It’s like at home,” Barbe said.
Roviezzo, whose father spent his last days at the facility, says the staff treated him with respect and dignity.
“We felt okay to leave him there because we knew he was being taken care of really well,” she added.
