Agence Ometz is a non-profit, human services agency that provides employment, immigration assistance and social services to Jewish families and individuals. Ometz (the Hebrew word for “courage”) was established in 2008 with the merger of Jewish Employment Montreal, Jewish Family Services of the Baron de Hirsch Institute and Jewish Immigrant Aid Services.
Ometz has two locations: a head office at 1 Cummings Square (5151 Côte Ste-Catherine Road) and a second office at 96 Roger-Pilon Street in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. More than 300 volunteers work together with agency staff to serve over 13,000 clients a year. The modern incarnation of a legacy of continuous, organized Jewish social service in Canada, Ometz celebrated 150 years since the establishment of its parent organization, the Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society, in June 2013.
Compiled by Stephanie Schwartz
Sources
Bialystok, Franklin. Delayed Impact: The Holocaust and the Canadian Jewish Community. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000.
Bialystok, Franklin."Jewish Immigrant Aid Services of Canada (JIAS)." Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. 2008.
"History." Ometz. Montreal, 2010.
Levy, Joseph J., and Leon Ouaknine. Les institutions communautaires : des Juifs marocains à Montreal. Montreal: Presses de l’Universite de Montreal, 1989.
Shuchat, Wilfred. The Gate of Heaven: The Story of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim of Montreal, 1846-1996. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000.
Tulchinsky, Gerald J. J. Canada's Jews: A People's Journey. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008.
Weinfeld, Morton. Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples. Ed. Paul R. Magocsi. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.
*Images courtesy of Ometz.
