“I had nowhere to go. Honestly, I thought I was going to be on the street, that’s kind of where I saw myself, because at 18, there’s nothing left. »
Like many young people in youth centres, Samuel didn’t know what he was going to do when he turned 18. Going from a life where everything is regulated to the quarter turn and where you ask permission to go pee to total freedom, it creates anxiety.
“When you are in a youth center, you want your freedom, you feel chained, adds Antoine. But when you go out, after all these years, you realize that it’s your life that you’re playing. And that if you play your cards wrong, it will rub off on your whole future. It’s a crazy thing to say to yourself that you can only count on yourself. »
Around the table, five young men, aged 18 to 20, who are unanimous on the question: they are not ready to fly on their own. All live in complicated situations with their families, have difficulty managing a budget, do not know how to cook too much. Some have also had run-ins with the law or substance abuse issues. A flat ? William starts laughing candidly. ” No really not. I was not independent enough for that, in time. Just manage the money, I’m not able yet. »
The statistics are not in their favor, and they know it. “The success rate for young people coming out of there is not very high,” says William. The success rate ? “Getting out of it, not ending up traveling,” he says.
Their fears are echoed in a study showing that 33% of young people who leave a placement with the DYP experience at least one episode of homelessness before the age of 21.
Rooms in town
It is to thwart these statistics that Sandra Bolduc opened the Maison Stéphane Fallu, which exclusively welcomes young people who have been followed by the DPJ and who find themselves without resources when they turn 18. The director of the POSA organization, which offers services to young people under 35, such as employment reintegration programs, noted that there was a “crie need”.
“A lot of the young people we helped had been on the streets,” she explains. Seventy-five percent of young people who leave the DPJ do not have a high school diploma, they have never managed their own medication, their budget. How do you expect them to become super self-sufficient overnight? It takes time. »
Seeing the big house right next to her organization, on rue Sénécal, in Chambly, she had an illumination. She saw a residence where young people could live in shared accommodation, somewhat on the model of Rooms in town, a very popular show in the 1990s. She didn’t want an institutional type resource, with rigid frameworks. “We wanted to offer something different, something close to real life, but with a safety net,” she sums up.
Sandra Bolduc contacted comedian Stéphane Fallu, who had already testified to her time at the DPJ. The response was so enthusiastic that the idea of naming the house after him took hold. “It was important to me that young people could identify with a successful person, that they could be proud,” says Ms.me Bolduc.
The organization did fundraising campaigns to finance the purchase of the house, which opened its doors last July. When passing the Duty, five young men lived there, a sixth was to move in shortly. Young people develop “life projects” and have two years to complete them.
A house with a “soul”
For the first time in their lives, these young people are paying rent: $600 a month, everything included, even food. It teaches them to manage their budget, and they take real pride in it, has seen The duty. But here, they are entitled to error, recalls Philippe Vaillancourt, speaker and project manager for the house. “If a guy can’t pay his rent at the end of the month, we’re not going to kick him out, we’re going to help him find solutions and set realistic goals. Everything here is practice for real life. »
For Philippe and Sandra, it was essential that the guys feel at home, that the house has a “soul”.
This soul, you feel it as soon as you set foot in the residence. The guys chat in the living room in front of the fireplace. The kitchen is welcoming, and they can rummage through the fridge whenever they want. They each have their tasks to make sure the house stays clean. Unlike other resources, they can come and go whenever they want, invite friends over, have a beer while watching a hockey game. A worker lives next door. Their rooms are all decorated according to their particular tastes.
“It’s the first time I’ve had a real bedroom,” says Samuel. Multi-colored LED lights roam the walls and you can see, at first glance, his boundless admiration for the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team. “They are all rejects from other National League teams and they managed to make it to the Stanley Cup final,” explains the young man to justify his interest in this team. “Did you catch what he’s sending as a message?” asks Philippe, with a wink.
Infatuation
The organization has direct links with youth center workers, who can refer young people to it. And the answer is good. Too good, perhaps, because there is a waiting list, which means that many young people need help.
The need is also felt on the girls’ side, and the organization is considering the construction of a second building on the land, or the addition of a second floor, to accommodate them.
The Maison Stéphane Fallu is arousing real enthusiasm, well beyond the city of Chambly, notes Sandra Bolduc, who is exploring the possibility of replicating the model in other cities in Quebec.
“It takes more houses like here, it could save lives,” says Antoine.
And after ?
Since he arrived at Maison Stéphane Fallu, Samuel has been training in animal care: “The best choice of my life! he says enthusiastically. William wants to undertake a DEP in machinery mechanics.
Raphaël goes there “day by day”. He was at 115 days of abstinence at the time of the passage of the Duty.
Antoine, he found a job in a service station. He works on himself to be financially responsible. “I had a lot of difficulties in the past, I’m learning not to give up. It is often said that small victories lead to big successes. I believe it. »