Since it lost its public funding last spring, the Maison de Sophia, which welcomes homeless women in Saint-Jérôme, has survived from pain and misery thanks to private donations. Six months later, heart in pieces, the president of the board of directors, Alexandra Soumain, is forced to announce its closure on December 31.
“We worked so hard [pour garder la Maison de Sophia ouverte], launches, on the verge of tears, Alexandra Soumain. But we have no choice, we have no more money, we will no longer be able to pay the employees, so we have no choice but to announce the closure. »
Last April, Alexandra Soumain launched a cry from the heart in the pages of To have to : she had just lost all her funding from the CISSS des Laurentides and was considering closing. Women, housed for several months at the Maison de Sophia, also implored the maintenance of this service which they considered essential in their approach to get out of the street.
They had obtained in extremis a reprieve from the Municipal Housing Office of Saint-Jérôme to stay in the housing they occupied and hoped for “a miracle” to find a new source of financing to pay the rent, salaries and food.
Despite requests from opposition parties in Quebec City to save the Maison de Sophia, Prime Minister François Legault refused to intervene, citing management problems with the organization. Mme Soumain has never hidden it, there have been problems in bookkeeping in the past, but since her arrival, she has worked hard to update the figures.
Postpone the inevitable
In recent months, with her “very small team”, she has written letters, contacted elected officials and organizations, applied for countless grants, developed business plans, found a building that would allow her to accommodate more women and to set up a daytime heat stopover reserved for itinerant women. “I am asked to perform miracles, but nothing is moving forward. We have nothing coming, no subsidy, ”she laments.
At the same time, the employees of the Maison de Sophia scrambled to seek private donations, in the hope of postponing the inevitable. They did fundraisers, organized a thrift store type sale and a benefit concert. But living on “$20 donations left and right” is tough.
They obtained a substantial donation of $20,000 from a foundation. Several have expressed interest in helping more, but on the condition that 40% of operating costs be covered by public funding, explains Ms.me Soon. She also managed to obtain a $30,000 grant from the CISSS for the community kitchen project, but the money cannot be used to pay for anything else, such as rent or salaries.
“In June, we agreed that we were going to go there month by month. We looked at that with the accountant and we said to ourselves: here we go. But in September, we had to face the facts: we will not be able to go beyond December 31. »
She informed the partners that she could not guarantee places beyond this date. She also broke the news to the residents. “It causes them anxiety, they know they won’t have a place to go. »
Very real needs
At the CISSS des Laurentides, it is assured that since May, the ESPOIR program team has met with the women to “evaluate the needs and the type of services required”. Some have since been rehoused or are in the process of being rehoused, thanks in particular to a rental support program that provides a subsidy for the cost of housing.
However, according to Alexandra Soumain, only two of the eight residents who are currently housed are ready to go live in an apartment with psychosocial support. “The others are not ready, they have unresolved trauma,” she says.
The CISSS also specifies that “the Laurentides region currently has more than 10 emergency and transitional accommodation resources that welcome women”, as well as another non-mixed resource. “Emergency and transitional accommodation resources are one of the accommodation and housing options for homeless women,” adds the CISSS communications team.
But, for Alexandra Soumain, this is not a satisfactory option. “We repeat and repeat that homeless women need a special place where they feel safe: a single-sex environment that is sensitive to the traumas they have experienced. But no one listens to us, ”she laments.
She is all the more discouraged because she says she receives daily calls from women and organizations looking for a place for their users, which proves that the need is real.
Alexandra Soumain still dreams of a miracle, but her hopes are dwindling day by day. “Women don’t matter to the government. We may talk about parity, but in fact, who helps women? »