About us

Our Mission

CAPAHC’s mission is:

To provide support to people infected or affected by hepatitis C and those coinfected with HIV/HCV, as well as their families.
To promote, in the community and without discrimination, overall health through prevention and through familiarization with the hepatitis C virus and other, related diseases (HIV coinfection).
To design and put in place information, awareness, and education programs.

Our History

Founded in 2003 by its current General Manager, over the years CAPAHC has become a leading resource in Quebec for hepatitis C and co-infection.

Laurence Mersilian
General Manager
The General Manager, a Parisian who moved to Montreal over 20 years ago, has quite a career in health. She abandoned her medical studies and became a scrub nurse/surgical assistant in general surgery, and worked in the area of HIV and drug addiction, and, lastly, created CAPAHC.
Fortunately, the numerous minor jobs in administration, accounting and getting by between these all these milestones have left their imprint…

Denis Jr Plante
Project Manager
Endowed with a wealth of experience of fifteen years among the Verdun youth, it turns master player has touched a little of everything in community work, sometimes as a speaker or coordinator, sometimes as program director or CEO. A happy Denis in his environment is a Denis that can take advantage of his versatility and meet a balance between the administrative work and connection with people.

Marjolaine Pruvost
Project CoordinatorWith a Master’s degree in Public Health, Marjolaine worked for 5 years in community organizing and social work in France, especially in groups focused on AIDS and other STD. Now living in Montreal, it’s as a coordinator for various projects that she joined CAPAHC and share her experience and energy.

Louis-Joseph Benoit
Project OfficerWith a background in management and politics, but also a creative side, “Luigi” has been involved in many causes over the last 12 years. It’s been 5 years he has been working in the community, in family groups, ecology and with the homeless. Often responsible for managing social medias, he’s now responsible for most communications, espouse the cause of CAPAHC and hope to contribute to it.

Ludovik Harvey-Ouellet
Info HerpesFrom Quebec city and with a certificate in psychology, he moved to Montreal to do a bachelor’s degree in sexology. With his experiences, he’s now involved in the Info Herpes project, to provide information and support about this lesser known STD.

Jalna
Human Ressources/ Shredder Officer
Endowed with an indisputable charisma, Jalna never hesitates to help her colleagues who want to finish their dinner meal. She is always available to receive cuddles or to enhance the breaks of her colleagues. She is curious and dedicated to the task. The documents to be destroyed by our assigned shredder have a tragic and unavoidable end.

Board of Directors

Most of the seats on CAPAHC’s board of directors are reserved for people living with HCV and/or HIV. There are five regular meetings of the Board of Directors.

President : Maître Stéphane Jacques
Vice-president : Docteur Marie-Eve Morin
Secretary-treasurer : Laurence Mersilian
Administrators : Ginette Fréchette, Sophia Ouarab, Stéphan Gendron, Michel Barrette, François Devette

As at March 31, 2014, there were 235 members in good standing on CAPAHC’s roll.

Partners

CAPAHC is a proud partner of several local, national, and international organizations:

Action Hepatitis Canada

Action Hepatitis Canada/Action Hépatites Canada is a national coalition of organizations responding to hepatitis B and C. Their work engages government, policy makers, and civil society across Canada to promote hepatitis B and C prevention

Alliance des patients pour la santé

APS believes that patients should be at the centre of Quebec’s health and social care systems.

RIOCM

The Regroupement intersectoriel des organismes communautaires de Montréal is a grouping of 300 health, social services, family, immigration, and civil rights organizations in the Montreal metropolitan area.

RAPSIM

The Réseau d’aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM) was created in 1974 by community workers and organisations that wanted to make homelessness a public and political preoccupation in Montreal.

CAPAHC thanks its governmental and private partners for their ongoing support: