The Grande Bibliothèque and the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) will hire workers this winter to welcome and support the homeless who will visit these downtown establishments in the coming months in order to keep warm, thanks to financial support of $190,000 from the Legault government.
The Minister responsible for Social Solidarity and Community Action, Chantal Rouleau, announced Thursday financial assistance from the provincial government of $139,277 to the Bibliothèque et Archives nationaux du Québec (BAnQ). This sum will allow the establishment in the heart of the Latin Quarter to have a full-time psychosocial worker who will be able to work with the homeless who are used to going to this building to warm up in winter. This resource will be hired for a period of one year, in 2024, as part of a pilot project, indicated Mme Roll.
“Throughout the year 2024, there will be a worker on site, for 42 hours per week,” the minister detailed on Thursday. It is currently unknown whether a single worker will take care of this task or whether two employees will take turns for this purpose.
Thus, the BAnQ will draw inspiration from the Drummondville library, which has used specialized workers since last year to help people in need who go there, in addition to facilitating the peaceful resolution of conflicts between customers and employees of the establishment.
“Librarians are people who want to reach out to people, intuitively. But intervening with certain clienteles is more complicated,” noted Thursday the president and CEO of BAnQ, Marie Grégoire. The latter therefore expects that the mobilization of a specialized worker within the walls of Grande Bibliothèque will contribute to helping the establishment’s employees establish a dialogue with people in need who regularly go to this place to to find refuge.
“It’s about finding the right approach, particularly when there are more agitated people for example. We want to see how we can reduce the tension to enter into a relationship” with these people, she mentioned.
A warm stop at UQAM
UQAM, for its part, received an envelope from Quebec of $51,045 to set up a nighttime heat stop this winter in its J.-A.-DeSève pavilion, on Sainte-Catherine Street East. From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., this resource will accommodate up to 50 homeless people in need during periods of extreme cold who will be able to go to the university establishment, where they can warm up while having access to food, hot drinks and winter clothes. In order to operate this heat stop, three psychosocial workers from the Social Development Society will be mobilized on an ad hoc basis, when weather conditions require it.
“This is a first step in UQAM’s intervention in the revitalization of the neighborhood,” said rector Stéphane Pallage, who expects this project to be renewed on an annual basis.
These projects are not a “purpose” in themselves, but rather the start of several similar initiatives, mentioned Chantal Rouleau. “I am convinced that these projects will bear fruit and that they will inspire other social initiatives,” declared the minister.
The BAnQ will also be transformed into a heat stop during episodes of extreme cold this winter, as was the case last year.