The Jean-Maurice Latendresse Foundation was founded in 2015 to continue the work of Jean-Maurice Latendresse in the area of intellectual disability in the eastern sector of La Montérégie. He was the founding President of Les Services OPUS, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting intellectually disabled adults find and benefit from real work experiences. Mr. Latendresse and his board of directors solicited industrial contracts for the network of public workshops attached to the CRDITED de la Montérégie-Est headquartered in Granby, supplied equipment for workers at their place of work, furnished money to cover expenses related to real work experiences, and in general promoted the value of real work for intellectually disabled workers. Mr. Latendresse passed away in 2005 and in recent years, the assets of Les Services OPUS have been transferred to a new foundation, aptly named La Fondation Jean-Maurice Latendresse, under the leadership of its President, Mr. Pierre Latendresse, his son.
Recently, Mr. Latendresse decided that the best way to continue the legacy of his father was to join forces with the Butters Foundation of Cowansville (www.buttersfoundation.ca), the longstanding foundation of the public establishment providing services to intellectually disabled people in the eastern sector of La Montérégie. Mr. Latendresse has agreed to dissolve his foundation and become a Director of the foundation. In this regard, he will assist Dr. William Barakett and his volunteers in soliciting funds for community-based projects that support families with disabled or autistic children, and to promote Research & Development projects that improve the quality of public services to families struggling with the challenge of raising a handicapped child.
In this photo, Mr. Latendresse ( left) accompanied by his fellow foundation director, Mme Michelle Bédard (far left), is handing over a cheque of $365,000, which represents the residual assets of his foundation, to Dr. Barakett (right) of the Butters Foundation who is accompanied by his Executive Director, Mr. Ron Creary (far right). The Butters Foundation is honored to be able to continue the legacy of Mr. Jean-Maurice Latendresse, a tireless champion of intellectually disabled people and the father of an intellectually disabled member of the community.
-April 5, 2018