Finding stability, feeling safe, thinking about your future, regaining confidence: having a roof over your head gives life back to homeless people. The newspaper met three formerly homeless people who are getting their lives back together thanks to their housing.
A 65-year-old ex-homeless man with only a few months left to live is appeased, when he can end his life with dignity thanks to housing affordable.
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“I have a few months left to live, I want to end them quietly here, I don’t want to move,” explains Claude Côté, 65, who learned in March that his days were numbered. After eight years of chemotherapy, her colon cancer is at stage 4.
Accompanied for 20 years by the Accueil Bonneau, Mr. Côté first lived at the Maison Paul-Grégoire, a place managed by the organization which helps people experiencing homelessness.
“It was a relief when I got my apartment. I had been waiting for a long time,” he recalls.
The building, which housed 33 former homeless people, like him, had to close its doors in 2019 because of the risk of collapse in its structure.
Rehoused, Claude has since lived in one of the 49 studios of the Maison Joseph-Vincent, located on rue Saint-Paul in Old Montreal, which is also taken care of by the Accueil Bonneau. Here, subsidized housing with support is offered to people aged 50 and over with a slight loss of autonomy related to homelessness.
homeless life
Salesman, butcher, meat manager, hawker: Claude Côté has had a string of jobs all his life, without having a place to go to sleep every night after his day’s work.
“I lost quite a bit of work because of my alcoholism and quite a bit of work under the table when I was on welfare. But since I’ve been with the Accueil Bonneau, things have been going well,” he confides.
After years of living on the streets, in emergency shelters without knowing what was going to happen the next day, his access to housing was a blessing for him, he says.
“It allows me to have a normal life,” he adds, proudly saying that he takes care of his home, which costs him about $380 a month, or 25% of his income.
Accompanied
It is also the accompaniment by the organization’s workers and a trust that allowed him to get back on his feet.
“With my problems when I was on the street, I exhausted my unemployment insurance, I didn’t know that, social welfare,” he continues.
Today, the disease does not prevent him from helping his neighbors with reduced mobility.
“I take care of doing small shopping for them, it allows me to help those who can’t leave their homes,” he continues.
New housing for Accueil Bonneau
In a few months, the Montreal organization will inaugurate a new building comprising 114 studios with the Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM), which will provide a low-cost roof to hundreds of people.
“With this new house, we are aiming for a social mix, where there will be LGBTQ men and women of all ages, who better represent society,” explains Fiona Crossling, director of Accueil Bonneau. She specifies that, for the moment, the three existing houses only house men.
With the explosion of rental prices in the metropolis, more and more people find themselves at risk of finding themselves in a situation of homelessness.
“Often, it is because of the housing crisis that people find themselves in a situation of homelessness. We often have prejudices against people who are homeless, but it is Mr. and Mrs. Everybody now who risk losing their housing, ”insists Fiona Crossling.
To prevent or to help get out of the street, the Montreal organization, which works mainly in Old Montreal, offers 132 low-cost housing units, in three different houses: Maison Claire-Ménard, Maison Eugénie-Bernier and Joseph-Vincent House. They also receive support there.
“People need housing, but also support. Most of the people we welcome need psychosocial support to get back on track. It allows people to stabilize at their own pace,” explains Ms.me Crossline.
In 2022 alone, this lifted 418 people out of homelessness, says Ms.me Crossing.