Ten years.
To say that Elena Sauvageau is patient – and determined – is an understatement.
It took a decade for his project of 30 supportive housing for young homeless people – mostly children of the DPJ who had become adults – to materialize in Laval.
“Here, it’s our most important room,” says the 44-year-old woman, showing us around the building that welcomed its first tenants last winter.
We are in the L’Accalmie lounge located on the ground floor. The place is peaceful and warm.
A Christmas tree sits at the back of the room. A cot is installed in one corner, as three units are reserved for very young mothers and their babies. An art station equipped with canvases and paints is set up near the window.
Young tenants come here for help at any time of the day or night.
A counselor is present at the L’Accalmie lounge 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. houses of the same name. This is THE richness of the project. »
Because of anxiety attacks, these young people who have known the street have them practically every night.
“Our young people are victims of their history, of their family”, summarizes Mme savage. They were abused, neglected or outright abandoned as children.
“The nights are busier than the days and the days are very busy,” she says.
Some tenants have Autism Spectrum Disorder. Others, significant psychiatric disorders. Many have suicidal thoughts.
“It’s heavy,” says M.me Sauvageau, to the point where some tenants make a gradual integration in the manner of the integration of a baby at daycare (one hour the first day, two hours the next day, etc.).
For the executive director of the community organization, it was out of the question to build them a nice building if, in the end, these young adults were left “alone with their discomfort” within the four walls of their home.
“The young people need a roof, yes, but they also need intensive monitoring, otherwise it would have been a failure. »
Critical lack of affordable housing
The idea for this project germinated in 2012, when Elena Sauvageau was working at the Auberge du Coeur L’Envolée located in the Sainte-Rose district, which has 16 places for young people aged 16 to 23. According to the rules of the hostels of the heart, young people can stay there for a year.
However, in Laval – this was already the case 10 years ago and the crisis has since worsened – there is a crying lack of affordable housing. And young people coming out of youth centers have no family or contact to help them. Even less credit report. Thus, after their year at the Auberge du Coeur, they were unable to find new accommodation.
At L’Accalmie, young people can stay for three years. They are admitted up to the age of 30. “Our young people are very suspicious of adults because almost all of them suffer from an attachment disorder,” explains Ms.me savage. It’s long, create a link with them. Keeping them with us for three years allows us to stabilize them. »
Tenants must have a life plan, whether it’s going back to school or finding a job.
Participation in social reintegration workshops and community dinners is mandatory. “That’s what they suffer the most: isolation, observes Mme savage. The team of facilitators offers them all kinds of opportunities to be together to create bonds. »
A commercial kitchen has been set up in the building to teach them how to eat well.
Because they may be adults, no one has shown them how a washer, oven, etc. works. Or how to buy groceries. “We have to show them everything,” says Mme savage. A worker had to accompany a young man to the hairdresser who was anxious at the idea of going there since it was his first time.
Young people pay 25% of the cost of rent. This allows them to save money. “We force them to save a quarter of their income, otherwise, when they leave, they will return to the streets because they do not have the money to pay the real cost of rent,” said Ms.me savage.
Why are you doing this for me?
The day of our visit, we meet a young tenant on the ground floor. Our presence makes her nervous. She watches us suspiciously; look away.
The young woman landed on the streets at the very beginning of adolescence and she remained there for several years. When she arrived here seven months ago, she was terrified of basements. And, like all the others, to remain alone.
Mme Sauvageau cannot give details of his case so as not to break the bond of trust that unites them. Let’s say that she has experienced several major traumas.
Seven months later, the young tenant has greater self-confidence; she has found a job and is attending cegep. She even manages to go down to the basement of the building.
One day, Mr.me Sauvageau offered him painting materials. The young woman began to paint compulsively to calm her anxieties.
The organization’s director put one of her works up for sale at a charity auction.
“Your canvas is back at $600,” she congratulates her when we pass by. The young woman was to attend the benefit event a few days later. Except she didn’t have a dress.
Mme Sauvageau gave him one.
“Why are you doing this for me? asked the young woman when she received her new dress; probably the first in his life.
“Because you are worth it,” replied Mr.me savage.
This too, the young woman seemed to hear for the first time.
Change of direction
Mme Sauvageau was destined to work in domestic violence when she did an internship as a specialized educator 23 years ago at the Auberge du Coeur. She “fell in love with the clientele” and never left.
Finally, except for one year, during which she worked in a group home of a youth center, where she was quickly discouraged by the “heavy” bureaucracy.
“At L’Envolée, anything is possible, you’re not governed by a system,” continues the manager. The stakeholders have a good idea, we realize it. We are flexible. »
Much more than accommodation
The 40-year-old has a new big challenge. In addition to directing L’Envolée, she chairs the Laval network of homelessness organizations and stakeholders. She is currently working to save the Laval Emergency Refuge opened during the pandemic and installed in a former convent owned by the City. Twenty-five homeless people sleep there every night and others are turned away for lack of space.
“We hear that the City wants to make it a cultural center,” she says. They want to relocate us as soon as possible, but the question is: relocate where? And if we build a new shelter, it will take another ten years. During this time, what do we do with people? We send them to Montreal? In the hospital emergency room? »