Dans La Rue celebrates 25 years with plans to expand

For 25 years, Montreal's Dans La Rue has been helping to make life a little easier for street kids, and now, the charity'sbirthday celebrationincludes a plan to expand.

It began when a priest,Father Emmett "Pops" Johns, borrowed $10,000 from the bank to buy a van that would provide services for young people living onthe street.

Karine Dion says she began visiting the DansLa Rue van in 1990 while she was homeless in Montreal.

When things werent going well, I would always come here because I knew that they would help me if I needed it and not judge me, said Dion.

Dion, who is no longer homeless, says she doesn't know where she would be today without the help she received from Dans La Rue.

I have no idea what would have happened to me, but I knew that there was always a moment of peacefor me there, says Dion.

Plans to expand

FatherJohns hasretired, but his work continues with thevan still tracing the sameroute it didback in 1988.

Dans La Rue also has a centrewhere people can sleep overnight, andsoon the charity wants to go a step further with a transition home it intends to set up by 2015.

That was one of Pops'dreams, sothis is the placewhere we can help the kids find some stability," saidCcileArbaud, interim director-general atDansLa Rue.

"For many of them, [the van] will address only a part of the problem.Many of them willstill be in the community. So we still have to help them in many different ways."

Each year about 800 young people in Montreal use Dans La Rue's services.