As the homeless population is hit by major outbreaks of COVID-19, a homeless aid group from the opposition to sanitary measures movement, whose volunteers openly refuse to wear masks during food distributions in public, causes great unease within well-established aid agencies.
Posted at 8:01 p.m.
“It doesn’t make sense, the government should intervene. The police too”, denounces the CEO of the Maison du Père, François Boissy, informed of the situation by The Press.
The United for the Homeless organization, which describes itself as a “volunteer citizen movement”, has been increasing food and clothing distribution sessions for several weeks in Montreal parks, in particular at Place Émilie-Gamelin. It counts among its volunteers several leading figures in the movement opposing health measures, including conspirator Jonathan Blanchette, known on social networks as Jo l’Indigo. A certain “Donald Doc”, who participated in several public events with anti-vaccine activist François Amalega Bitondo, was also photographed distributing food without applying any sanitary measures.
The founder compares COVID-19 to the “cold”
The founder of United for the Homeless, Jonathan Sirois-Bouvier, also involved in the organization of demonstrations against health measures, does not believe in the seriousness of the pandemic. He refused to grant us an interview on Tuesday.
“Instead of worrying about these poor people catching colds, you should be concerned about thousands of these people sleeping outside in these freezing temperatures,” he wrote in an email.
For several days, homeless shelters have said they are overwhelmed by demand, and have to deal with numerous outbreaks among their staff and customers. Two downtown hotels have been requisitioned by the City of Montreal to house some 150 homeless people. The Montreal Soccer Stadium has also been transformed into a center to treat 300 homeless people with COVID-19. But Mr. Sirois-Bouvier criticizes existing aid organizations for putting the lives of homeless people at risk: “Do you know how many have died in the last few weeks? Do you know how many have frostbite on their feet, on their hands? Do you know how many think of taking their own life because they are refused by [ces] organizations that reject them under the pretext of outbreaks? “, he wrote to us.
Several volunteers in bad shape
During food distributions, most United for the Homeless volunteers do not wear masks, while many of those who come to collect food wear them when waiting in line.
Volunteers who participated in a food distribution on December 26 and January 2 have announced on Facebook in recent days that they suffer from fever, aches and be bedridden, but refuse to be tested. One of them, a father who has been campaigning for several months in court to prevent his minor son from being vaccinated, took part in a food distribution session on 2 January. In his most recent Facebook video, he claims that the next day he was in a terrible state, to the point that he “slept for 5 days”, a fatigue he attributes to a pizza that went badly. “It’s not called COVID; it’s called lay down and sleep, ”he explains to his hundreds of supporters.
Another, who complains of having shortness of breath at the slightest effort for three weeks, maintains on Facebook that he has “handled this crap of the vaccinated”. He refused to grant us an interview.
United for the Homeless is collecting donations on its webpage, but the phone number listed there leads to an inactive number. The organization is not registered with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec.
Three homelessness organizations contacted by The Press, who themselves ask their own employees and volunteers to have three doses of vaccines, to wear a mask and to scrupulously respect sanitary measures, deplore the ways of doing things United for the homeless.
“Even homeless people wear it, the mask. These are people with comorbidities, who often have lung problems or diabetes. They are more [sujettes] to have complications. We have had several deaths in recent years, because of COVID, and we do not want to have it back, ”said Michèle Patenaude, general manager of the community organization CAP St-Barnabé, which helps homeless people in the Hochelaga district.
“The homeless, they are really afraid of being sick. They take important precautions, they refuse to go to certain places for fear of getting sick. It is not with people who are conspiratorial or against vaccination, and who go against health directives, that we will get there, ”believes François Boissy, of the Maison du Père.
Welcome Hall Mission CEO Sam Watts said, “These people have a good heart and want to help, but it’s not the right way to do it.”
“The problem for homeless people is almost never to have access to a meal. Some even tell us that they can have five meals a day if they want. What they lack is housing and services. Unfortunately, what these people do helps them stay in a precarious situation,” he believes.