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The Legacy of the Grey Nuns
For twenty-five years, Réseau Compassion Network has carried the torch of the Grey Nuns by continuing to sow the seeds of compassion and hope. The flame that was first lit in 1844, when the Grey Nuns arrived in St. Boniface and established the first community services, continues to burn brightly.
Committed to the mission of their founder, Marguerite d’Youville — to help those in vulnerable situations with love, respect, and compassion — the Sisters cared for the sick, fed the hungry, taught the young, and comforted those in need.
Over time, the faces of suffering, poverty, isolation, and exclusion have changed, but they remain a painful reality.
Today, Réseau Compassion Network and its member organizations form a community of agencies dedicated to providing physical and mental health care, as well as personal and social well-being, staffed by thousands of employees and volunteers committed to helping every person who walks through our doors in times of need.
The Legacy of the Grey Nuns
The Founding Years
In 2000, the Grey Nuns turned to laypeople to ensure the future evolution of their works. By founding the Catholic Health Corporation of Manitoba (CHCM), they entrusted it with the responsibility of continuing the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.
Raymond Lafond, who helped the Sisters establish CHCM, became its first CEO.
In the beginning, CHCM was tasked with stewardship responsibilities for member organizations and sought to ensure the values of the founding congregations continued to flourish.
It appointed approximately two hundred members to the boards of directors of its network agencies and ensured that the Catholic vision of healthcare and social services remained unchanged.
CHCM provided supports to the Grey Nuns, and other religious congregations that approached the Corporation at a pivotal moment in their existence in Manitoba, to entrust them to preserve their legacy.
Thus, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the Oblate Missionaries, and the Benedictine Sisters transferred their organizations and joined the Corporation, seeking to carry on their legacy.
The Legacy of the Benedictine Sisters, the Oblate Missionaries, and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
Forging Our Own Path
In 2007, Daniel Lussier took the helm of CHCM.
As the second CEO, while continuing to support the network’s member organizations and their foundations, he sought to define what it meant to live out the mission and values of our founding congregations in a rapidly evolving society.
This marked the beginning of a long introspective process as a team to clearly define the path toward a unique culture of compassion within the network.
One of the key initiatives was the Compassion Project, launched in 2011.
The production of a documentary, workshops, and retreats helped initiate a dialogue about what compassion truly is and how to practice it – first for oneself – and then for those we support. This process began a collective organizational transformation whose benefits continue to be felt today.
Réseau Compassion Network also expanded its local initiatives, developing partnerships and supporting projects to address unmet needs in communities.
Year after year, it has defined its priorities and taken concrete actions to reduce the many barriers associated with complex poverty.
In the search for a name that would embody its mission adapted to the modern world, CHCM became Réseau Compassion Network in 2020. The visual identity of the organization received a refresh, as well.
Some of our projects
A Tradition of French Services
The Grey Nuns have always been committed to the French language. Choosing French-speaking leadership and bilingual boards of directors was therefore a strategic decision to keep the French language vibrant at a time when the population is growing and diversifying.
Today, eleven member organizations offer services in both official languages.
Réseau Compassion Network continued this commitment by signing the Ottawa Declaration For a Healthy Francophonie in 2018, alongside St-Boniface Hospital, Centre de santé Saint-Boniface and St.Amant, reinforcing their promise to serve the French-speaking population in Manitoba.
Their latest community partnership project, Vitalité santé!, is aligned with their mission of addressing unmet needs by working to improve access to French-language healthcare services by promoting the recruitment and retention of care providers where they are most in demand.
Together Toward Reconciliation
In the 2000s, respect for Indigenous cultures within each of the network organizations, under the leadership of Réseau Compassion Network, was not yet embedded in the mandates or in the minds of everyone involved.
However, through the years, many of our organizations worked towards recognizing the importance of the traditions of Indigenous people in the healing process. Réseau Compassion Network also began building relationships with Indigenous organizations.
After the publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, Réseau Compassion Network committed to responding to the Calls to Action and embedding reconciliation within the culture of all network organizations, starting with itself.
By acknowledging the wrongs perpetrated against Indigenous peoples, the network began its healing journey, which is carried out primarily through education and respectful dialogue to help build lasting relationships and partnerships with Indigenous people and communities.
25 Years of Compassion
Day after day, thousands of actions make a difference.
Compassion in action within the network means nearly 8,000 people working for the well-being of over 310,000 individuals each year, and by more than 1,100 volunteers dedicated to serving others.
Each person embraces, in accordance with their own culture, traditions or beliefs or life circumstances, the mission to bring support and healing, whether in the fields of primary or acute care, mental health, long-term care, or human services.
Together, member organizations form a network of communities of service that respond to the needs of people, working across the continuum of care, with an open heart and mind.
Réseau Compassion Network Today
After 25 years of existence, Réseau Compassion Network is committed to sustaining its work, always mindful to protect, nurture and grow the primary mission of the Grey Nuns and the founding congregations to help those most impacted by complex poverty with love and humanity.
Réseau Compassion Network draws upon its origins to create the cornerstones of a better future — a world where compassion and hope go hand in hand with service to the community.
Although Catholic values are universal humanitarian values, the challenge of ensuring that everyone feels truly welcomed within all our network organizations remains.
In collaboration with its member organizations, it shows boldness and flexibility to strengthen its role as a builder and catalyst, always ready to respond to people’s needs from the heart.
Watch all the testimonials on Réseau Compassion Network YouTube channel.
Social Justice
Today, inspired by the spirit of the religious congregations from which it inherited its works, Réseau Compassion Network is committed to working in spaces where needs emerge among marginalized populations facing obstacles related to complex poverty.
By addressing issues such as employment and income insecurity, social exclusion, and access to affordable housing, Réseau Compassion Network aims to make a tangible and lasting improvement in the well-being and lives of individuals.
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Volunteers of Centre Flavie • 2011
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Volunteers of Centre Flavie • 2011
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Volunteers of Centre Flavie • 2011
Through the services provided by its member organizations, as well as its own projects and initiatives, Réseau Compassion Network seeks to be a key partner in ensuring the vitality of our communities, where everyone can aspire to reach their full potential.