Shelters for people experiencing homelessness “are already at full capacity” in Montreal, where a count scheduled for Tuesday evening should confirm an increase in the number of homeless people in the metropolis, according to several organizations, which apprehend the arrival of winter.
No less than 1,200 volunteers recruited by the health network will crisscross the streets of the 19 boroughs of the metropolis for more than three hours on Tuesday as part of the third edition of the count of people experiencing homelessness, which is held at the provincial scale. These volunteers will ask questions to everyone they meet, in addition to conducting a tour of accommodation resources and hospitals, among others, on Wednesday.
“We do it because we need the figures, the most accurate portrait possible of homelessness” in order to adapt the services offered to the homeless accordingly, indicates to the To have to the CIUSSS communications advisor for the Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Danny Raymond. The latter recognizes, however, that this exercise, which was initially to be held in 2021, only offers “a very circumscribed snapshot of the situation” of homelessness, which is largely invisible.
Moreover, the method is not unanimous. “Beyond counting people, [les bénévoles] all have a series of extremely intrusive questions to ask the people they are going to meet that evening,” laments the executive director of the Montreal Homeless and Alone People’s Assistance Network (RAPSIM), Annie Savage. “It’s an approach in itself that does not pass the test of ethics,” she said.
The picture is no more positive than it was last winter.
Nevertheless, in 2018, the count conducted in Montreal revealed an increase of more than 8% in the number of “visible” homeless people on the streets of the metropolis, for a total of 3,149. An estimate that could well inflate at the end of the new count which will take place on Tuesday, the results of which will be known in the fall of 2023.
“We are already at full capacity,” confirms the director of communications for the Old Brewery Mission, Marie-Pier Therrien. However, many reception places created last winter have been made permanent this year in order to get out of the concept of emergency resources set up only during the cold season. Result: there are already some 1,500 beds reserved for the homeless, about as many as the number reached last winter. The closure of several resources that had been set up temporarily in hotels was notably compensated for by the creation of a place of accommodation within the former Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Montreal, where a transition assistance service towards housing is also offered.
“The pandemic has demonstrated that winter or seasonal measures are not something that works. We were able to convince the authorities to stop increasing our services during periods of extreme cold” in order to focus instead on the stability of the resources available all year round, explains the President and CEO of the Welcome Hall Mission, Samuel Watts. .
Rise in needs
Several apprehensions remain, however, at a time when — in the absence of up-to-date data — many signs suggest an increase in the number of homeless people in Montreal. “We had a lot of camps this summer”, notes Mme Therrien, who believes that inflation and the housing crisis are pushing a growing number of Montrealers into the streets. These are also increasingly young, and mental health problems are often noted, she notes. “Hidden homelessness is very present too,” she notes.
Thus, with the approach of winter, “the biggest problem is still the lack of space” to accommodate the homeless, sighs Marina Boulos-Winton, the director of the house Chez Doris, which hosts many homeless women. Last month, the organization inaugurated a new overnight shelter with 24 beds. On the first evening, “there were 22 refusals”, for lack of being able to meet a greater demand than the available offer, in particular in the resources intended for homeless women.
“Everyone recognizes that there is a lack of places”, also notes the director general of RAPSIM, Annie Savage. She also notes that a “blur” persists between the number of beds available for all homeless people and those intended for people who are ready – and eligible – to take part in a transition program to permanent housing. , which is not the case for all of them.
“The portrait is no more positive than it was last winter”, thus slices Mme Savage, regarding the measures in place to help homeless people cope with the cold season. Last winter, the deaths of homeless people on the streets of the city during periods of extreme cold shook many Montrealers.
The CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal assures that “very specific winter measures” in homelessness will be announced “in the coming days”. These will form part of a five-year action plan that is currently in its final stages, spokesman Danny Raymond said.