The housing crisis hits hard at young people in difficulty living without a social safety net or family support. Carrying a heavy past in their luggage, flirting with homelessness, they experience the intertwining of various oppressions and stigmatizations, but actively try to get out of it. The duty went to meet young people who have found refuge in the Auberges du Coeur.
“If I weren’t here, I would surely be outside, itinerant, but I would be in the gardens, I would be an outdoor artist, as they say. Jodnald, a tall 30-year-old man, has lived for three years in one of the social housing units on L’Avenue, an Auberge in the heart of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
In the stairwell that leads to his four and a half in a newly renovated building on avenue de la Salle, Jodnald looks back on a journey strewn with pitfalls: a difficult relationship with his father and a diagnosis of deficit disorder. attention that prevents him from organizing himself into an apartment.
“I needed more coaching,” he says. Supervised apartment services allowed me to be more independent, but with supervision. I was also able to complete my cooking class, with the support of the staff. Now I am alone in an apartment in one of the social housing units. »
Like other Auberges du Coeur houses, L’Avenue offers three different types of supervision. The most fragile begin with short-term accommodation, a very supervised environment with permanent workers. Then, as they gain autonomy, they move to shared accommodation in supervised apartments, then in social housing, allowing them to consolidate positive experiences at low cost.
One floor down is Tommy, who can hardly imagine living anywhere else on the meager income he receives from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Program. There is also another young person, a former drug user and seller who has his habits in centers for itinerant young people who has found, at L’Avenue, much more than a roof.
“I learned to trust these people and I was not mistaken. I came from really very low, but they believed in me. They supported me and listened to me. Looking to the future, he now wants to focus on his studies, which will begin this fall.
Rim, 23, was also able to enjoy a moment of respite when she landed at L’Avenue more than a year ago following “a traumatic event” in her life. “I arrived in a fairly intense state,” she recalls, sketching a smile of gratitude towards the workers who helped her regain control over her life. ” I started to focus really on me, it was really very positive. And today, I’m really much better. »
Break
If all the young people who turn to the Auberges du Coeur have a unique path, they generally end up there after an “event which constitutes a break in the social or family net”, explains the general manager of L’Avenue, François Villemure. Some experience this disaffiliation, for example, when they leave a stay in a youth centre, in prison, in a hospital centre, or after having experienced family problems or drug addiction.
Alex, 21, experienced this break in the middle of the pandemic when he found himself without a job, in addition to living with pervasive anxiety and substance abuse problems. Without the support of his family and unable to find a source of income, he squatted with acquaintances for three months. At his wit’s end, he finally turned to Maison Tangente, in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
The young man who is passionate about video games is now shared with two other young people in a social apartment, with a bedroom where his laptop is enthroned. gamer under neon lighting.
Arrived at the last part of the Tangente house, Alex recognizes that the housing crisis could be a brake on his journey. “I look as much for the studios as for the three and a half, and the prices are astronomical, without counting the essential needs. »
Supervised apartment services allowed me to be more independent, but with supervision
He is not the only one. The shortage of housing and the exorbitant cost of those that are available complicate the task of workers trying to rehouse young people who have acquired a certain autonomy and maturity to stand on their own two feet.
“Before the pandemic, many young people managed to find decent accommodation in shared accommodation, whereas today, this is unthinkable, notes the director of the Regroupement des Auberges du coeur du Québec (RACQ), Paule Dalphond. With inflation, it’s impossible to afford housing on a low income. »
cruel choices
It is all the more difficult since the experience that some young people have had with their first accommodation has gone wrong, leaving them with debts and a bad record at the Administrative Housing Tribunal. “They have no parents to endorse them,” summarizes Jonathan Pelletier, speaker at the Tangente home.
As a result, young people stay longer in the resources. “We realize more and more that there are young people who are going to stay at the hostel who could very well go to an apartment, but the problem of finding accommodation is so difficult”, notes Paule Dalphond.
This situation, which affects all of the 32 shelters that the organization oversees throughout Quebec, forces workers to make sometimes cruel choices. This sometimes goes so far as to oblige them to have to refuse people in difficulty because of the lack of space in their establishments.
The housing crisis is felt more than ever, and this can be seen in a tangible way in the accommodation sector. “The face of the clientele is changing, people are making requests because they don’t have access to the housing market, they find themselves in precarious situations without having major problems,” explains François Villemure.
L’Avenue workers have also noticed an increase in the number of immigrants using their services over the past two years. For some young people of immigrant origin, access to government programs is more complicated since some do not have official status, underlines Paule Dalphond.
The changing profile of young people using shelters and the critical rise in housing prices are forcing the RACQ to adapt to new realities. The lack of political will is felt and provoked a reaction.
“They do not know the reality on the ground, they do not consult the actors in the field to put in place resources that will not put young people in a situation of failure, deplores M.me Dalphond. When it is time to implement and adequately fund the resources to support and accomplish the mandate, there is a lack. »
Despite their unique journey and the pitfalls encountered, young people who have passed through the doors of RACQ shelters manage to motivate themselves, organize themselves, carry out projects and even dream. “There’s more sun where I am now,” says one of them.