Faced with relocating after 15 years, co-op caf vies for another chance in Centre-Sud

A co-op restaurant,that has been a staple for artists, families and students in Montreal's Centre-Sud since it was foundedby two single mothers in 2003, is strivingto remain in the area after the building it's in was sold.

Caf Coop Touskiis a colourful enclave on a quiet strip of Ontario Street, located at the eastern end of the Ville-Marie borough. Mismatched tables and vintage furniture are spreadthroughout out three rooms with worn-out wood floors.

"It is kind of an old house," says Kelly Schwab, one of its roughly 25 members. There is no boss at Touski, as the text on its painted facade says.

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Schwab was perched on top of one of the picnic tables scattered in the caf's backyard Thursdayas the co-op launched a campaign called "Touskipersists" to raise funds for its relocation.

The group is ramping up efforts to find somewhere else to goonceits lease ends in May, andnew owners take possession of the building.

'A radiating place for the Centre-Sud'

The co-op is hoping to raise $20,000 to build an industrial kitchen in whatever new place it finds, since the options for renting a place in the area that already has one are limited.

For many of the members, leaving theCentre-Sud, or even the Sainte-Marieneighbourhood,isn't an option. They say there's a need in the area for the co-op as a hub oflow-cost food, and artand music eventsespecially as they see other Montreal co-ops, such asL'Artre, fold.

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"It's the rallying place, a radiating place of the Centre-Sud," said Caroline Reeves, one of the founders. "If the Touskileaves, what's left?"

Single, young moms unite

The idea for thecafcameafter Reeves and Catherine Josionmet at an unemployment officein their early 20s, both with a two-year-old toddler in arm.

Both women were struggling to create a home for themselves and their children.

They had the help of an organization called Mres avec pouvoir (MAP), which provides affordable housing and child care for young single mothers, but they wanted to expand their community of little families in a neighbourhood lacking green space and healthy food options.

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They joined forces with another mother in the area, took a business start-up course, built a plan, applied for grants, and started telling the neighbourhood about it.

"A year later, it was happening," says Josion. "It really created a little buzz."

Families'urban escape

For Myriam Larose, a regular patron, it still is. She says she enjoys the shows and the gatherings, and she comes with her boyfriend when they don't feel like cooking.

"Knowing that at the beginning it was [two] single mothers, who met at the welfare office,and the fact we're here all these years later, it's really great," said Larose, glancing overevery once in while at her two-year-old daughter playing in the yard.

"It's going to be difficult to find another place like this. It's not astressful place like, I've got mine over there running all over the place and I feel relatively safe," she said with a laugh.

Inside, Charlne Debruyne and Thomas Barucche were finishing up a meal while their two-and-a-half-year-old,Gaspard,made use of the play area next to their table.

"For us, it's really important for it to endure.We couldn't really understand why it was closing because it's always busy," said Dubruyne.

Adlie Bellemarrefound Touskia year or so after it opened and worked there for eight years. It's how she met her life partner, with whom she has two children. She was carrying one of them a two-month-old in a sling on her chest at the campaign launch.

"It's really a second home when you really get involved," Bellemarre said, standing among a group of three other former members, two which also met their partners working at the restaurant.

"It's when I started feeling like a Montrealer for the first time," saidMickal Clment-Mnard, who is from the Laurentians,of joining the co-op.

An opportunity to start fresh

Schwab, who's worked there for a year now, is taking the move in stride. She sees itan opportunity to start fresh.

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She talked about the potential she saw in, for example, an old warehouseshe found on the corner of de Rouen and Montgomery streetswhile walkingthe other day.

It had stamped steel ceilings emblematic of "beautiful Montreal craftsmanship," and three garage doors she thinks could be replaced with glass doors.

"We're going to find something that'll work, and that'll be different.That will be interesting and unique, but not this, and that's OK."