Homelessness in Sainte-Marie | A shelter project bringing hope… and worries

This winter, the Bon Accueil Mission will open a shelter for homeless people in the Sainte-Marie district. An initiative that many local residents welcome, but that others welcome with some reluctance.

The organization purchased the building located at 2222 Ontario Street East on Thursday, where it will create about fifty “transitional studios” by next January. The Welcome Hall Mission plans to temporarily house homeless people there for up to three months, in order to help them find a permanent home.

“The more accessible housing of all kinds we put in place, the fewer vulnerable people we will see in our communities,” says Mission President and CEO Sam Watts, who considers this acquisition, worth $4.5 million, a “real success.”

Setting up a shelter in Montreal is a major challenge, particularly to ensure cohabitation between those who have a roof and those who do not. Thus, at the end of July, The Press reported that a housing resource project proposed by the City of Montreal in Ahuntsic had fallen through due to a lack of social acceptability in the neighborhood.

But the Bon Accueil Mission will be able to carry out this project by “ensuring a commitment with the neighborhood” and by offering constant support to the users of the center, according to the president and CEO. “The mission operates a similar resource in the Macaulay pavilion, in the city center, and problems with the neighborhood are very rare,” he adds.

The Ontario Street facility will not offer harm reduction services, such as a supervised injection site. “We’re really focusing on housing,” says Sam Watts.

Supports and reserves

The problem of homelessness is far from being foreign to the residents of the Sainte-Marie district, in the Centre-Sud, where there is already a significant concentration of resources for people experiencing homelessness.

For several citizens who spoke with The Pressthe arrival of a new shelter in the neighborhood is necessary. “If there can be one more resource for them, why not? There is already so much homelessness in the neighborhood,” says Maria Pinetz, who has lived nearby for six years.

Jocelyne Cantara, for her part, is more reticent. “It’s always the same question: we know that there is a need for this kind of resource, but do we want the risks that it entails?” asks the retiree who has lived in Sainte-Marie since childhood.

For someone who has observed growing insecurity in her neighbourhood, the idea of ​​a concentration of homeless people on Ontario Street is unsettling. “My fear is that it will lead to more dangerous behaviour or consumption,” adds Jocelyne Cantara, who believes that the issue will divide the neighbourhood’s citizens.

Living with precariousness

For Valentine Abraham, cohabitation with people experiencing homelessness is already inevitable in the Centre-Sud. “It’s confronting to live here because we have no choice but to see human misery on a daily basis, but it’s important to develop our empathy,” she adds.

The painter, whose studio is located just a stone’s throw from 2222 Ontario Street East, warmly welcomes the opening of a new shelter. “Creating resources means getting people off the streets, and ultimately, it means having a safer city,” she says.

According to Étienne Laberge, who lives on a street corner from the building, this resource will undoubtedly bring disruptions that will have to be tolerated. “Yes, it may get on my nerves at times, but it could just be a good thing for those who need it,” he adds.

The City of Montreal said it was “aware of the population’s fears about potential urban security issues” in an email to The Press“Several actions will be undertaken over the coming weeks to present to the population the organization’s project and the social cohabitation actions that will be put in place,” she said.