Why does there never seem to be enough services for street people? Many Montrealers are asking themselves this question, often discouraged in the face of what seems to be a perpetual and worsening crisis. However, homelessness has never generated so much attention, debate and action to find solutions.
Homelessness affects all Montrealers who helplessly watch a crisis that affects the most disadvantaged in our society. More than ever, cities are called upon to act to set up various services and to respond to issues in the public space, where social cohabitation is becoming more and more difficult. The City of Montreal, for its part, has lent a hand to organizations helping the most vulnerable by doubling the budget allocated to them. The City has also redoubled its efforts to provide better support to citizens by promoting cohabitation through the establishment of mediation teams such as the Mobile Team in Social Intervention and Mediation (EMMIS), a first for a municipality in Quebec.
These efforts must go hand in hand with community support and assistance in stabilizing individuals. Through the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ), cities turn to Quebec and Ottawa for assistance in health and social services, accommodation with adapted mental health and addictions services, and housing with community support. This is the key to breaking the cycle of homelessness. But cities will not be able to do this alone, it is the business of all levels of government, which must work together, each in their areas of jurisdiction, and in a coordinated fashion.
When that happens, real results follow. This is how we recently witnessed the opening of the new permanent accommodation center for homeless Aboriginal people of the organization Projets Artisanat du Québec and the inauguration of housing for homeless women. of the project The neighbors of Lartigue, of the organization Mission Old Brewery, in February.
The emergency shelter network
Last weekend, for the second time in a month, the Montreal agglomeration took action to ensure that the most vulnerable people were protected during a period of intense cold. Measures have been taken, temporary sites have been opened in record time. The situation of the overflowing of shelters entered into the disaster criteria, in the same way as a flood or a major fire. While dozens of people were accommodated on this occasion, in the middle of winter, this emergency measure also reminds us of the importance of ensuring a year-round accommodation network, which corresponds to the needs of homelessness in the metropolis.
Unprecedented efforts have been made in recent years with the health network and the community sector to strengthen the emergency shelter network. The number of places has increased from 900 in 2019 to 1600 in 2022. We are closer than ever to a sufficient network on demand, but there is still important work to be done.
Like Toronto and Ottawa, Montreal needs shelters adapted to a clientele with specific mental health or addiction needs, but also for the elderly or young, LGBTQ2+, women experiencing hidden homelessness. or very vulnerable indigenous people. Real planning of housing needs and services, in connection with mental health and addiction, must be done by the health and social services network as well as homelessness community partners and the City.
Increase access to housing to reduce urgency
A network of accommodation in line with needs must go hand in hand with functional mechanisms encouraging people to leave shelters. Without access to suitable and safe housing, with community support, the use of shelters is doomed to increase constantly. This phenomenon is also observed in other cities, such as Toronto, which has, in the winter of 2022-2023, more than 9,000 emergency places. In Montreal, hundreds of people are stabilized in shelters, but they often wait more than a year before being eligible for programs and accessing available housing, where adapted services aimed at reintegration are offered. Waiting lists can be long.
In Quebec, the creation of social housing is still slowing down. The programs of the Government of Quebec for the construction and viability of projects through community support and accompaniment of people remain underfunded and of a complexity that discourages a large number of organizations, which no longer attempt to set up construction projects. Simplification of administrative processes and sufficient funding are more necessary than ever.
Reducing homelessness and the urgency associated with it is not an impossible mission. But to achieve this, it is necessary to plan and coordinate accommodation and housing services, in conjunction with social services and health care. This is an imperative.