The Partage St-François refuge in Sherbrooke will still have to close its doors overnight from Sunday to Monday, due to lack of personnel.
This is the second time in as many weekends that the organization’s executive director, Sébastien Laberge, has been forced to close.
The organization’s recurring lack of funding prevents it from paying well its stakeholders, who end up resigning.
“During the night from Sunday to Monday, there will be 27 empty beds inside the Poirier reception, so 27 people will sleep outside, who will not have service, who will experience distress and all that. , unfortunately, because I will have no worker to welcome them within my departments, ”explained Sébastien Laberge.
The situation has been the same for months, but no one seems able or willing to fix it once and for all. Mr. Laberge said he had received offers of help, but nothing sufficient.
“Unfortunately, the offers of help that we have are ad hoc and do not make it possible to resolve the problem that we are experiencing,” he lamented.
The CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS cannot further fund the resource
By email, the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS – which refused an interview request from TVA Nouvelles – affirmed that it could not further help the organization with its Support Program for Community Organizations (PSOC), dependent on government investments. .
To date, the entire available budget is distributed among the 197 community organizations in the territory.
Community organizations also unfortunately find themselves in a difficult situation in terms of the availability of human resources, added the CIUSSS.
For the member for Québec solidaire in Sherbrooke, Christine Labrie, this situation could be resolved if the government increased funding to community organizations.
“The recurring enhancement of community organizations would allow them to increase their salaries and therefore allow them to post positions that would be competitive with those in the health network,” she argued.
Quebec promises to act
In the office of the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, it is stated that in no case do we want to see citizens on the street due to a lack of resources.
A roaming action plan has already been presented in recent weeks, with a budget of $ 280 million over 5 years.
With this plan, the government will be able to directly fund organizations, such as Partage St-François, which work with itinerant customers.
The regional and sectoral breakdown will be carried out shortly.
Decrease in sharing services
In the meantime, the board of directors of Partage St-François has adopted a restructuring plan to allow it, among other things, more predictability and avoid these last minute closures.
It also plans to reduce its service offering by 25%. “We plan to systematically close the refuge on weekends eight months a year, to succeed in maintaining the refuge in winter,” explained Sébastien Laberge. Some departments will also be moving to smaller locations. The number of beds will be reduced and the number of employees as well. ”
As many positions are unfilled at this time, no employee will lose their job.
“This restructuring will allow us to allocate our available budgets to offer better employability qualities to retain our staff,” he added.