Our Story
Friends2go is a black-founded, non-profit organization initiated in March of 2021 and established in January 2022. It is committed to providing black communities with innovative technology tools, accessible programs, and workshops to address the mental health issues they face. We are also an LGBTQ+ community-friendly organization, we are open to and welcome the LGBTQ+ community as to foster an environment of support, respect, and equality.
"At its very beginning, friends2go was to be an organization that offers personalized support to seniors. This idea came to me during the heat wave that hit Montreal in the summer of 2018, which took many of our seniors without supervision. I told myself that if there would have been the existence of a platform dedicated to the support and assistance of the elderly, many deaths could have been avoided. The families could have adhered to this recourse in order to ensure the well-being of their loved ones. Then came the pandemic, being of black origin, several factors concerned me during this period; the increase of criminality among young people from ethnic communities, the wave of conjugal violence and femicide, the revelation and increase of police brutality and discrimination experienced by black communities and the mental issues that social isolation due to COVID-19 had created. I immediately wanted to set up reference tools and programs to counter these issues that affect our youth and seniors from Black communities." ~ Roberte Lodimus/Founder
CORE VALUES: Accountability, availability, dependability, efficiency, honesty, loyalty, positivity, and reliability.
VALUE STATEMENT: Cultural empowerment: "If people are going to live at a higher level, they must believe at a higher level" ~Steve Backlund, The Culture of Empowerment: How to Champion People
Coming soon...
Specialized Apps (In development)
Personalized coaching and mentoring for seniors and young teens in Black communities
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This application will allow the youth to grow in a healthy environment
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This application will counteract the social isolation felt by seniors
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This application will allow many young people from the same communities to exploit the need to connect with young people who have the same extracurricular interests as them.
Therapeutic Support for Black Communities
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This application will allow its clientele to have access to social support at all times
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This application will bring together all the Black professionals from different communities
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This application will facilitate connections between professionals and their clients
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This application will make interventions more flexible in terms of time and method of contact
Support
We are a non-profit organization and in order for us to keep providing the needed assistance, programs, and tools to the black communities in need of such services and help, we thank you for your continuous support and donations. Please help us heal our communities by providing us with your contribution. No amount is too small when it comes to uplifting our communities.
Roberte Lodimus
President/Founder
Roberte is a Human Relations Therapist and has a degree in Psychosocial Intervention. After many years in administration and telecommunications, the pandemic has created a need for her to make a difference in her community and to give a purpose to her studies in psychosocial intervention. She wants to bring back the stability that was once part of people's lives and alleviate the negative effects caused by the pandemic. She offers innovative solutions to address the stigma and mental health barriers in the Black community.
Academic experience:
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Degree in psychosocial intervention from UQAM.
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Specialized Training in intervention with young people who have autism spectrum.
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Specialized training in crisis interventions.
Stella Lolagne
Vice-President
In-office since March 1, 2022, Stella is passionate about social justice and women's rights equity, she has accumulated a wealth of experience in various areas of the telecommunications industry where she has proven herself in terms of development, management, and coordination of projects. Committed to making a positive impact and changing mindsets in our community, she works closely with the President and Founder of Friends2go to support our corporate goals and acts as a change agent to ensure alignment with the mission and the vision of the organization.