A man who had been staying in emergency accommodation at a hotel since 1er July moved into a beautiful, clean apartment on Friday, thanks to an emergency program and the help of many people.
“Not feeling alone when you’re in distress makes a huge difference,” says Mario Lortie, 62, in his new home in the Villeray district.
The newspaper had met him before the 1ster July, as he was preparing to store all his furniture and seek emergency accommodation from the Montreal Municipal Housing Office (OMHM).
Mr. Lortie had been on the waiting list for low-rent housing since 2022, before being the victim of a housing repossession.
Benefiting from social solidarity, he had not found any affordable apartment after living in the same place for 28 years.
“It’s better than the other one”
Eventually, he was able to leave the hotel after less than two weeks. He was offered a place to live with a rent listed at over $1,300 per month.
“It’s better than the other one,” he said, referring to his old place, which had finished floors.
Here, the kitchen is renovated, the floor impeccable and the walls bright white.
Mario Lortie began unpacking his boxes after moving in on Friday.
Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin / The Montreal Journal
Thanks to the Rent Supplement Program (PSL), he will only have to pay 25% of his income, or $316 per month. The Société d’habitation du Québec will pay the difference.
“It’s great. It takes people who are sensitive to the difficulties of others,” he emphasizes about his new owner.
He thanks the Verdun Housing Committee and the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU), who helped him in his efforts, as well as his best friend and his nurse at the Le Port d’attache mental health clinic.
“Without the support, I don’t know if I would have gotten through it,” he admits.
“Tiny part”
The PSL was created to address the lack of social housing. In Montreal, 8 people were able to sign a lease this year thanks to the emergency program to avoid ending up on the street on the 1er July, says Mathieu Vachon of the OMHM.
At FRAPRU, we are happy for Mr. Lortie. We also point out that the PSL is “not a panacea” since it does nothing to solve the affordability problems that come with the housing crisis, explains spokesperson Véronique Laflamme.
“This is a tiny fraction of tenants who find themselves without a lease. […] for whom the PSL allows a solution to be found.” In other words, it is a bit like a bandage on a hemorrhage.
This is without taking into account the administrative rules which require, for example, not to have voluntarily left one’s previous accommodation. “But there are some who had good reasons to leave!” says M.me The flame.
Mr. Lortie is aware that he has overtaken many people on the waiting list. “When I say it, it hurts my heart.” He himself helped create social housing in the 2000s.
“I might go back to service a bit to support social causes,” says the man who now wants to give back.