Concern in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve | A child targeted by a homeless man

Last week, on the way to daycare, Gloria’s* 3-year-old son was shouted at and spat on by a homeless man lying on the sidewalk in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood.

The mother and son are still in shock following the incident, which illustrates the problems of cohabitation between residents and the homeless, who are sometimes intoxicated and suffering from mental health problems and are left to fend for themselves on the streets.

“I panicked because my son got hit in the face. I called 911 right away,” Gloria said the day after the incident.

The Au Jardin charmant early childhood centre (CPE), which the toddler attends, is next to the CAP Saint-Barnabé organisation’s shelter for the homeless, which houses 168 people in the former YMCA on rue Hochelaga.

Worried Neighborhood

The two establishments are literally on the same property, which has been causing concern among parents since well before the attack on Gloria’s son. Several families who attend the daycare have to pass by the shelter, in front of which stand people with unpredictable and sometimes violent behavior.

The man who spat on the child, Hansel Alexis Echavarria, was arrested immediately after the mother called police. He was charged with assault last Friday and was held in custody.

He is a former user of CAP Saint-Barnabé, but was kicked out of the shelter. “We are working closely with the network to ensure that care is provided, but unfortunately, this is not entirely within our control,” the shelter’s general manager, Michelle Patenaude, explained in an email to Gloria.

Even though he was no longer staying at the shelter, the man is still in the area, where he has his habits. This is what the residents fear: that their neighborhood will attract more and more homeless people because they find services and help there.

The same fears are expressed in different places in Montreal where resources for the homeless are set up. Whether in Saint-Henri (Maison Benoit Labre), in Milton-Parc (La Porte ouverte shelter), near Jeanne-Mance Park (Hôtel-Dieu shelter) or in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, where two CAP Saint-Barnabé shelters, which were supposed to be temporary installations, are attracting criticism from the neighbourhood (Hochelaga Street and Chambly Street).

Neighbors worry about needles lying around, broken bottles, excrement, strewn clothes and makeshift camps, in addition to having to deal with people sleeping on the sidewalk, sitting on any balcony, using hard drugs and vandalizing property or public equipment.

Mounting the barricades

This explains why recent projects for shelters or housing for the homeless have triggered opposition movements, such as in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, on Bois-de-Boulogne Street, and in the Rosemont district, in the Sainte-Bibiane church.

Critics often point to the proximity to schools, daycares and parks frequented by children.

The Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, is also studying the possibility of imposing a minimum distance from schools and daycares for supervised consumption sites, shelters and day centres for the homeless. A measure with which Gloria fully agrees.

Delicate balance

These controversies highlight the challenges of balancing support for homeless people with the concerns of other citizens.

“We understand the importance of shelters and the precariousness of these people, but as a parent, my first concern is the well-being of my child,” emphasizes Nicolas**, whose daughter attends the CPE Au Jardin charmant. “In addition, the shelter has to turn away a lot of people, so a lot of people hang around waiting for a place.”

CPE users are even more worried since CAP Saint-Barnabé decided to replace the security agents who patrolled around the shelter with psychosocial workers.

“I don’t think that workers can ensure safety in the neighbourhood, which should be the shelter’s responsibility,” says Maxime Langlois, another parent at the CPE Au Jardin charmant, who deplores the organization’s lack of communication with citizens. “I understand the social contract, I live in Hochelaga, but a contract goes both ways.”

Rubbing shoulders with homelessness in the park

At Théodore Park, located a few blocks from the shelter, very close to Gloria’s, a group of children from another daycare in the area are having fun in the play structures. Elsewhere in the park, a dozen or so homeless people who live at CAP Saint-Barnabé, recognizable by their white bracelets, are hanging out. Some are having a beer, others seem clearly under the influence of drugs.

Recently, the toilets at the park chalet have been closed. “They were disgusting,” says Francis**, a regular. “I saw a man defecating in the bushes while children were playing nearby,” describes Gloria, who has put her house up for sale to leave the neighborhood, where she no longer feels safe.

We start the conversation with Yvan**, a 59-year-old man who has had a place at the shelter for three weeks. With a friend, who lives in a tent in the park, he is about to smoke crack. “I hide in a corner to smoke, but I see some people smoking in front of the young people,” he laments.

Sentinels

The general director of CAP Saint-Barnabé, Michelle Patenaude, assures that she is sensitive to the concerns of the neighbourhood. The enhancement of the team of psychosocial workers aims to offer “more services to get even more people in a situation of homelessness off the street,” she says.

“We are going to develop a sentinel post that will intervene in the streets adjacent to emergency shelters, which is a response to requests from citizens,” she adds. “They will be able to defuse crises and refer people to other institutions.”

She also ensures that the workers meet with users to make them aware of the importance of respecting the neighborhood to facilitate cohabitation.

M^me Patenaude acknowledges that the former YMCA, where the shelter was set up “temporarily” during the pandemic, is not the ideal location for such a service.

Nor, for that matter, the basement of the Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc church, rue de Chambly, where another shelter was set up in an emergency, but must now be relocated, since the building was purchased by another organization.

“We are looking for permanent solutions, we want to take our time to find a new location,” says the general manager, who admits to feeling a certain fear of seeing her organization fall victim to the “not in my backyard” syndrome. “I still hope it will be well received, I have confidence in my neighbourhood.”

* The alleged victim of assault being a minor, we cannot reveal her identity or that of her mother.

** These people requested anonymity because they say they fear for their safety or because their loved ones are unaware that they are homeless.