To those who saved his life

It was raining in Montreal that day. And Justine* only wanted one thing: to die.

The young woman in her twenties had however fled her country, leaving everything behind, with a completely different objective: to survive.

In the midst of a pandemic, the plan quickly went awry. Not knowing anything or anyone about this country, she had been accommodated with a very distant acquaintance, who welcomed her reluctantly. The floor served as his bed. After 15 days of confinement without sleeping or eating, the young asylum seeker was put on the street. The lawyer to whom she had confided her hopes for a better life told her that he could do nothing for her unless he received the very next day an imposing sum of money that she did not have.

How was she going to do it?

On the street, with empty pockets and an empty stomach, without resources or reference points, Justine, who at the time did not speak a single word of French, saw no way out except suicide.

In front of me, in the café where we are seated with Chantal Normand, the social worker without whom, she says, she would no longer be in this world, the young woman has tears in her eyes as she speaks of the deep despair in which she was plunged. .

She remembers going out into the street, making a plan to end it all. A passerby noticed the erratic behavior of the young woman who had just narrowly avoided being hit by a car.

She ran towards Justine. Noticing the young woman’s distress, she told her she knew a place where they could help her.

” No no no. I do not need help. I just need to die,” Justine repeated to him in English.

Faced with this clear refusal, the stranger, who listened to him without saying anything, ended up handing him a bus ticket and giving him directions to the premises of PRAIDA, the Regional Reception and Integration Program. asylum seekers, which comes under the CIUSSS Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.

To convince her to go there, the lady told her a lie that was intended to be benevolent. ” Go over there. You explain everything to them. They’ll help you… die. »

When she got off the bus on rue Saint-Denis, Justine got lost. She asked for directions in English from people who didn’t understand what she was saying.

In the rain, she walked in circles for an hour in the neighborhood, still plagued by suicidal thoughts. She felt like she was in a bad dream.

This is where chance put Chantal Normand, a PRAIDA social worker, on her path, who was going out for her lunch hour. She noticed the young woman in tears. She tried to understand what was happening. Her voice choked with sobs, Justine said: “I’m trying to find PRAIDA. »

Chantal offered to accompany him to the front door of the establishment whose mission is to facilitate the reception and integration of asylum seekers in Quebec. “It’s right there. Go to reception. »

At the psychosocial emergency reception, Justine registered, fearful, before sitting down in the waiting room.

Is this really where we would help him die? she wondered. She was starting to have doubts.

Then she heard a female voice calling her name. It was Chantal, just back from her dinner break. Justine didn’t recognize her.

“It was I who showed you the way earlier. How can I help you ? »

Hearing Chantal’s voice and seeing her welcoming smile, Justine felt reassured.

“Maybe I’m in good hands here,” she said to herself. Perhaps this PRAIDA that she was desperately seeking at the suggestion of a stranger could help her not to die, but to survive and even live.

Instead of making her unpack her whole story and discuss her asylum request, Chantal suggested that the young woman first go and rest for a night at the PRAIDA emergency accommodation and then come back to see her. the day after.

“In the state she was in, all she needed was to maintain her dignity and above all meet her needs. Maslow’s pyramid wasn’t invented for nothing. She needed to sleep, to eat, to rest. »

After a good night’s sleep, everything would become possible again.

The path of possibilities

“Honestly, if it wasn’t for Chantal, I think I would no longer be in this world,” Justine told me, moved.

It was Chantal who opened the door to PRAIDA and, at the same time, to a new possible life. It was she who, after having repaired her lost confidence, then entrusted her file to her social worker colleague Valérie Breau, who took over with the same patience, the same empathy and the same professionalism to allow her to continue on her path. .

Chantal pouts while listening to Justine.

“I don’t like it when she gives me all the credit!” »

Yes, the role of social workers, who support humans through the most difficult transitions of their lives, is very important and deserves to be better recognized. Yes, she helped Justine regain her confidence, she guided her in her efforts and offered her tools to climb the mountain in front of her, one small step at a time.

“But you’re the one who made all the effort.” At times, I trusted you more than you trusted yourself. That’s it, theempowerment. This means: I believe in you enough to give you x, y, z. You are going to take back power over your life and you are going to climb the mountain. »

After her first restorative night in emergency accommodation, Chantal said to Justine: “You are capable. You are strong. I will show you all the resources. I will give you support. I can explain to you. I see you have a future. But you will build it yourself. »

A reception social worker for 24 years at PRAIDA and liaison officer with network professionals for a year, Chantal always relies on this approach with asylum seekers.

Asylum seekers often have unsuspected strengths within themselves, which they themselves tend to underestimate. “They are people with incredible strengths. They were self-sufficient before arriving here. They carry a lot of suffering, of course. But so much resilience too. It’s our job to always believe in them. »

This is precisely what Chantal reminded the exhausted Justine in front of her, who confided to her that she had lost everything.

“You haven’t lost who you are. You haven’t lost your dignity. Look how far you’ve come to get here. You have strength! I will help you. But I need you to do it. I need you to recharge your batteries. We’re going to give you a safe place where you can lay your head and start your process. Then you’ll leave, I’m not worried. »

Chantal was right. After only three weeks in emergency accommodation, Justine, very resourceful, found a shared apartment. Initially reluctant to apply for social assistance, she understood that it was only a step in her integration process while waiting for her work permit.

After five meetings spread over five weeks, Chantal saw everything that Justine was capable of. In a short time, she had already taken several steps in the right direction. But knowing that the road was still long and strewn with pitfalls, the social worker thought it was better to support her a little longer.

“At reception, our mandate is to carry out short-term follow-ups. But in her situation, with her experience, I said to myself: I can’t let her go like that. We have to find a balance. A place where she will be supported in all the many challenges of adaptation and integration. »

Once the emergency situation had stabilized and steps had been taken with a legal aid lawyer for Justine’s asylum application, there was still much to do to enable her to obtain psychosocial assistance, to learn the French, to get a job and stand on your own two feet.

This is where Valérie took over, guiding Justine for two and a half months, on the path to possibilities.

To buckle the buckle

Today, by a chance as beautiful as the one that allowed Justine and Chantal to cross paths in the street the day she was thinking of committing suicide, Justine works for the CIUSSS Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de- Montreal, the very one that gave him hope.

A journey that commands admiration and which shows that everything is possible when you are lucky enough to come across the right people, underlines Chantal.

“His story is a great example of integration. She learned French. She works. There is an openness to life in her. »

In the process, Justine also managed to obtain her refugee status. She is not at the end of her troubles, however, because she is now waiting to be reunited with her family. But she now knows that there are no mountains too high for her.

If she agreed to tell her story, it is above all to express her gratitude to those who saved her life. The stranger who showed her the way when she was lost and desperate. Chantal who opened the PRAIDA door for him and held out her hand. Valérie who further guided and encouraged her in her many endeavors. “I feel like I owe them a lot. »

Having been an employee of the CIUSSS for almost three years, she feels like she has come full circle, in a way, by giving back to the public establishment that has given her so much.

Chantal welcomes these kind words with great humility. “When I hear words of gratitude, I appreciate them. It always feels good to be told thank you. But she did the work! »

The social worker, who has already played elite volleyball, believes that victories in life are like victories in sport.

“One of my coaches always told me: ‘I did absolutely nothing. I showed you the way. It was you who took it. So today, if you have reached this point, this is your accomplishment.” »

That said, Chantal is always happy to meet again, years later, asylum seekers who have become accomplished citizens who, with a look of gratitude, proudly testify of the progress they have made.

“It’s hard, the work we do. As I often say: I didn’t choose to organize weddings! We’re always dealing with sad stories, trauma… So when we have beautiful stories like this, it’s of course uplifting. It reminds us that with everything that is happening in the world, there is still beauty and goodness in human beings. »

A beautiful story for which she is impatiently awaiting the next episode.

*The name is fictitious, the story is not. The young woman requested anonymity for security reasons.