[Opinion] Homelessness is also a matter of housing and prevention

We are currently witnessing a perfect storm leading to growing homelessness across Quebec: housing crisis, inflation, increase in distress and violence, all combined with the arrival of many asylum seekers for whom the dedicated resources no longer provide.

Faced with this worsening crisis, several voices are raised with a common goal: to preserve human dignity, which begins with the right to adequate housing. The provincial budget unveiled in recent days has given us very little indication of how the government intends to go about it.

Thus, the members of the Movement to End Homelessness in Montreal (MMFIM) add their voice to stress the urgency of bringing together the community, health, housing and business sectors in an innovative way to prevent and stop this exodus into homelessness.

Since 2015, the MMFIM and its members have been focusing on housing support within deadlines that limit reaching a threshold of chronic homelessness. Consider, for example, the recent housing projects that have emerged under the leadership of Quebec Native Projects, Chez Doris or the Old Brewery Mission. In 2022, the MMFIM listed 491 people who were able to find housing through these various initiatives.

Unfortunately, this is still too little to really reduce the number of homeless people. For what ?

Lack of housing, certainly, but also administrative maze in the government programs supposed to support the initiatives of the organizations. In fact, homeless organizations have developed cutting-edge expertise, they are ingenious and innovative in the solutions deployed to support people in housing. But this determination is discouraged with funding by projects, programs that are not adapted to this specific reality or by digging counterproductive trenches between the responsibilities of the various levels of government. In short, we are fueling a crisis, whereas we have a duty to work together to create housing and meet the specific needs of homeless people whom we wish to house.

To do this, programs and funding must be adapted. We must once again make social and truly affordable housing a priority. It is one of the keys to the success of Finland, which is on its way to eliminating homelessness. We must also renovate dilapidated social housing, create housing in vacant premises and offices, act on illegal short-term rentals and stop abusive evictions. Together, we must make every effort to ensure that we have a stock of at least 20% truly affordable housing. In short, all solutions, with the exception of the status quo, must be considered, as recently pointed out by the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand.

We must be bold because, together, we are capable of social innovation.

Indeed, we have the expertise of the NPO members of the MMFIM, combined with the levers and the desire to change things of the members from the business community. We are offering our cooperation to the Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, in reviewing the programs. This must imperatively draw on the experience and expertise developed by the specialized organizations and make it possible to produce rapid results.

Also, we urge him to work with the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, to help give us the means to achieve our ambitions. Our organizations have long since passed the stage of being simple emergency shelters; let’s therefore use their expertise wisely to multiply the scope of the results that we can deliver as a society.

In closing, how can we claim to want and be able to put an end to homelessness without also acting upstream? As such, we support our colleagues from the Quebec Collective for the Prevention of Homelessness who are focusing on concrete recommendations to improve our policies. It is imperative to act on the factors and situations likely to become tipping points towards homelessness, whether institutional (releases from prison, youth protection, domestic violence) or administrative (access to the Pension Plan Quebec, Administrative Housing Tribunal, etc.).

* Also signed this text:
Geoffrey Kelley, Chairman of the Board (MMFIM)
Carl Bond, Property Management Director (SHDM)
Linda Carbone, Executive Director (BOMA-Quebec)
Art Campbell, Regional Director Reintegration and Social Inclusion (YMCA du Québec)
Glenn Castanheira, General Manager (Montreal Downtown)
Sonia Côté, President, General Manager (Le Chaînon)
Fiona Crossling, Executive Director (Accueil Bonneau)
Olivier Farmer, psychiatrist (CHUM)
Marie-Josée Fleury, Full Professor in the Department of Psychiatry (McGill University)
Sam Watts, President and CEO (Welcome Hall Mission)
Jaelle Begarin, President and CEO (Maison du Père)
Neila Ben Ayed, General Manager (Logis Rose Virginie)
Françoise Bouchard, Assistant Director (Love in Action)
Luc Desjardins, General Manager and Publisher (Itinéraire Community Group)
James Hughes, President and CEO (Old Brewery Mission)
Heather Johnston, Executive Director (Quebec Indigenous Projects)
François Raymond, General Manager (Social Development Corporation)
Ron Rayside, architect (Rayside Labossière)
Sally Richmond, Managing Director (Logifem)
Jessica Soto, Executive Director (Diogène Community Monitoring)
Harout Tarakjian, General Manager (Booth Center Montreal)
Me Donald Tremblay, Executive Director (Moving Legal Clinic)
Denise Charline Teikeu, General Manager (Porte Ouverte Montreal)
Marina Winton, General Manager (Chez Doris)

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