When volunteers for Afrique au Féminin knocked on Raju Miah’s apartment door in Montreal’s Park Extension neighbourhood, they weren’t collecting donations or selling anything.
Instead, they were there to help, handing him a free “freshness kit” — a blue bag containing a small fan, spray bottle, thermometer and information pamphlets about recognizing the health effects of extreme heat and where to turn for help.
For Miah, who has lived in the neighbourhood for nearly 25 years, the visit couldn’t have come at a better time.
He says the summer heat has been difficult for him and his loved ones, as his family’s apartment, where his 85-year-old mother and young children live, is only equipped with one small air conditioning unit in the living room.
“It’s a really, really good idea. A lot of families, a lot of people, they need that.”
Miah is among thousands of Montrealers expected to receive a cooling kit this summer as public health officials expand a program designed to support residents most vulnerable to extreme heat.
The “freshness kits” are being distributed through a partnership between the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal and community organizations, including Afrique au Féminin, which is leading door-to-door deliveries in Park Extension.
The initiative started as a pilot project in the summer of 2024, with over 1,100 kits distributed over its first two years in Ville-Marie, Verdun, Sud-Ouest and Hochelaga.
This year, the program has nearly doubled in size, with about 2,200 kits set to be distributed in Côte-des-Neiges and Park Extension.
The project is backed by a $90,000 budget, which funds both the purchase of the kits and the community organizations responsible for delivering them to residents. Funding is guaranteed through the summer of 2027, with organizers hoping the program will continue beyond then.
Neighbourhoods are selected each year using a mapping tool that combines heat-related risk factors, reports from frontline workers and discussions with community partners, including the City of Montreal.
For David Kaiser of Montreal public health, the project is about far more than helping people cool down.
“The freshness kit project allows us to reach the people most at risk by providing them with practical tools, while also creating an essential connection that helps break social isolation — an important factor that increases vulnerability during periods of extreme heat,” he said in a statement.
For Rose Ngo Ndjel, director of Afrique au Féminin, every delivery is also an opportunity to check in with someone who may otherwise go unnoticed.
“Some elders, you can’t even knock on their door, and they can stay a month without anyone knocking on their door,” she said. “It was a joy for them to have someone break the isolation, someone to knock on their door and say we’re giving you something.”
Volunteers also ask residents about their daily lives and the challenges they face, helping Afrique au Féminin better understand the needs of older adults in the neighbourhood. Ngo Ndjel said those conversations are already shaping future programs and helping the organization identify gaps in services.
The information will also help the organization work with partners to secure additional support for vulnerable seniors in Park Extension.
“The questionnaire will help us identify the needs of seniors and bring together community members who work with them to find support—whether that’s financial support or support from community members—so that we can address their needs. Because, for us, it’s essential that every senior resident receives services and that every senior’s needs are met,” Ngo Ndjel explained.
For Kale Kamissoko, volunteering has become a way to immerse herself in the community she recently joined.
A newcomer to Canada herself, Kamissoko said going door to door has shown her how difficult summer can be for people living without adequate cooling.
“It’s helped me to know the life of the people who don’t have air conditioning, who have some difficulty in Park Extension,” she said.
Through her time volunteering with Afrique au Féminin, she has found residents are often appreciative of the initiative.
“I think the project is a good project because there are many people who don’t have air conditioning,” she said. “When we give some kits, people are very happy because they need it.”
Not every knock, however, ends with an open door, with some residents turning volunteers away before they have the chance to explain the program.
She hopes that as more people become familiar with the initiative, those conversations will become easier.
“People have to know what we do,” she said. “The next time, it will be easy.”
