Old Brewery Mission transformed into a property management NPO

The deterioration of the homelessness situation in Montreal has reached such a point that the Old Brewery Mission has transformed itself into a real property management company. Today, it is working to find permanent refuge for those who do not have one by increasing the construction of new social housing.

The explosion in the number of homeless people we are witnessing throughout Montreal, particularly since the 2020 pandemic, is staggering. Every time I walk through the city center, I come across new faces on my path who share the same distress, the same lack of anchoring in reality, faces in search of a decent existence.

The housing and opioid crises have dramatically amplified this human distress which is increasing today with the proliferation of improvised camps which are becoming veritable mirrors of the ambient urban misery.

Every day I go to The PressI cross the street, corner of Saint-Antoine and Saint-Laurent, and I rub shoulders with around twenty, sometimes around thirty, homeless people who have just spent the night at the Saint-Laurent campus of the Old Brewery Mission or taken a drink there. meal.

“We changed our approach around twenty years ago. We are now trying to find a lasting solution to homelessness by getting people off the streets and giving them the means to find a permanent solution. We follow them and we supervise them in this process,” explains James Hughes, president and CEO of the Old Brewery Mission, active for more than 130 years in supporting people in need.

Founded in 1889, the organization was a simple soup kitchen for a long time before becoming a classic shelter for the homeless. The Mission reached an important milestone with the opening, in 2006, of the Marcelle and Jean Coutu pavilion, a first social housing park, at the corner of Saint-Laurent – ​​Saint-Antoine, in what is called the Saint-Laurent campus.

Since then, property management has taken an important place in the activities of the organization which has more than 300 employees and which today operates 11 buildings with 476 housing units in addition to 4 buildings which provide emergency services to help the homeless. -shelter or offer them different services such as a heat stop.

“We have 470 places in our four emergency centers, including the Lise Watier homeless center in Hochelaga. At our Saint-Laurent campus, we welcome 186 full-time residents, we supervise them so that they can eventually live in permanent housing,” continues James Hughes.

In addition to the 11 buildings located in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, in La Petite-Patrie, NDG, downtown, in Centre-Sud and in Plateau Mont-Royal, the Old Brewery Mission is undertaking the construction of 5 new centers from 10 to 47 housing units in Lachine, Montreal North, downtown, Hochelaga and Centre-Sud which will add 125 social housing units to permanently house homeless women and men.

Take his place

“We intervene in the market, because private developers do not embark on the construction of social housing. We get our funding from governments. »

The homeless organization is not the only one working to find shelter for people experiencing homelessness; La Maison du Père, Accueil Bonneau, Le Chaînon and many others are also involved in this fight which has, however, taken on worrying proportions in recent years.

“We must stop the cycle of homelessness by tackling it at the source. This is why we have teams who seek to detect those who are at risk of falling into homelessness. Institutions must also be more vigilant, by better supervising those who leave prison or the Youth Protection network,” suggests James Hughes.

The Old Brewery Mission has just launched its 2024-2029 fundraising campaign which aims to raise 50 million in private donations, which will finance 50% of its operating costs over the next five years.

“The government finances 50% of our annual operating costs of 20 million, we have to find the other 50%. We launched the campaign with already 25 million raised thanks in particular to donations from the Marcelle and Jean Coutu Foundation and the Mirella and Lino Saputo Foundation which each granted 5 million,” specifies Mr. Hughes.

The businesses and families who have taken advantage of Montreal’s economic and financial dynamism to enrich themselves and the community are all indebted for part of their success to the vitality of the Quebec metropolis.

In these more difficult times, the Old Brewery Mission offers them a great opportunity to restore a little dignity to Montreal and its most vulnerable citizens by actively participating in its fundraising campaign.