Since the announcement of an imminent closure of the Maison de Sophia, in Saint-Jérôme, which has lost its funding from Quebec, the CISSS des Laurentides and elected officials have been repeating that residents will not find themselves on the street. However, there are only five other shelter resources for women in the entire territory of the region. And they are all dedicated exclusively to victims of domestic violence, has seen The duty.
At the request of To have towhich was trying to find out precisely where the women from the Maison de Sophia would be relocated, the Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) replied that “five other resources exist in the Laurentians to accommodate women in homelessness and victims of domestic violence”.
But in fact, these are resources that welcome victims of domestic violence, and not women of various profiles like those who are accommodated at the Maison de Sophia. It is the absence of rigid admission criteria that makes the place essential for women in difficulty, believes the volunteer president of the board of directors, Alexandra Soumain. Twenty-five women are waiting for a place, in addition to the nine who are currently accommodated there. And the organization continues to receive requests.
The CISSS indicates that it has had discussions with the five aforementioned organizations “in order to prepare them to be questioned, should the need arise to relocate the women” from the Maison de Sophia.
However, once contacted by The duty, the managers of two of these organizations did not hide their surprise when they heard that they could be called upon to house these women. “It’s not what I understood or heard, I’m going to have to check with the CISSS,” replied, uneasy, Maryse Lachaine, director of Mitan in Sainte-Thérèse. His colleague Sophie La Roche, from the Citad’Elle in Lachute, had never heard of this possibility either.
And if both are in solidarity with the women of the House of Sophia, they repeat that their mission is to welcome those whose main problem is domestic violence. ” I do not say [qu’elles] do not experience violence, but it is not the same thing. And we have so many requests from women in dangerous situations, for sure we will prioritize those who are in a hurry to leave their home, ”explains Ms.me Chain. Last Wednesday, Le Mitan was full and the Citad’Elle only had one free room.
The other three resources did not respond to the request of the To have tobut their websites clearly indicate that they are organizations that help victims of domestic violence.
Mixed accommodation
The other option for homeless women in Saint-Jérôme is to go to a mixed shelter. Since the pandemic, an emergency shelter has been set up at Ste-Paule church. When passing the To have to last fall, residents slept in cubicles, with no privacy, and had to pack their things every morning. They spent their days outside, in Tim Hortons or in the drop-in centers, and came back to line up in front of the church at the end of the day to get a hot supper and reserve their place for the night. Several were heavily intoxicated. The director general at the time indicated that there was a lack of specific resources for women in Saint-Jérôme.
However, the model is changing, explains François Savoie, general manager of La Hutte, which has just taken over from the refuge of the Ste-Paule church. We are starting to build small rooms there to provide more privacy and we are transitioning to a temporary accommodation model, so that residents can live there as long as necessary and be accompanied in their efforts to find housing.
Within nine months, the activities should be transferred to a brand new building, which will be built on the land adjacent to the church. The 6.5 million project, announced earlier this week in the presence of several political representatives, will offer 48 rooms.
François Savoie indicates that he was not asked by the CISSS to house the women of the Maison de Sophia, but that they will be welcome if they need it. He specifies that his mixed housing model, already well established in Terrebonne, is adapted to meet the specific needs of women.
But according to the president of the board of directors of the Maison de Sophia, the residents – who currently live in communities in furnished apartments – are terrified at the idea of returning to mixed resources, whatever the conditions offered. Noémie, 27, said last week that she had spent several weeks on the street at the start of winter, looking for food and small warm places to sleep for a few hours here and there, in the grip of such anxiety that she was having convulsions. Despite everything, she felt safer on the street than in a mixed emergency accommodation resource.
Disappointment
Alexandra Soumain does not hide her disappointment with the response from Quebec. Prime Minister François Legault refused to get involved in saving the accommodation, citing the organization’s poor accountability. Mme Soumain acknowledges this blame and assures that she is working to improve things, but argues that it is difficult to achieve accountability when underfunded and in a hurry. She regrets that bureaucracy comes before people.
A few days ago, the MP for Saint-Jérôme, Youri Chassin, sent a letter to Mr.me Soumain in which he asks him to transfer the name and special needs of his residents to the CISSS to “ensure continuity of services” once his organization is closed. “Courage, ladies, we will not let these women in our community down! he concludes.
This refusal of Quebec to fly to the aid of the House of Sophia is difficult to understand for Alexandra Soumain. Especially since last week, the Minister of Housing, Andrée Laforest, had intervened with the Municipal Housing Office (OMH) to allow the organization to stay twelve months longer in the premises than he occupies. “Following this intervention, we were hoping for a helping hand from the Ministry of Health or a discretionary envelope that would allow us to hold on,” says Ms.me Soon.
She admits she has a “little dip in energy” these days, finding it difficult to fight the battle on all fronts. But she hasn’t given up yet. “With the board of directors, we gave ourselves two additional weeks to assess the situation. We had a few donations that allow us to stretch the sauce. As long as we are able to pay the rent, the salaries and the groceries for the women, we will continue. »