This piece was submitted to the Citizen Journal project of the Peter-McGill Community Council. Please note that the opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of our organization. This project aims to create space for the voices of residents, students and friends of the neighbourhood through articles, photos, videos, and podcasts in any language. Are you interested in contributing? Contact us at benevolat@petermcgill.org!
Unfortunately, homelessness seems to be the preferred accessory of our beloved city, along with orange cones and bagels, of course. It seems that Peter-McGill district alone welcomes a large part of our homeless people. Many resources devoted to struggle against homelessness are in the district. Several regular people of this neighbourhood are accustomed to some faces that one could recognize in a familiar portrait. The article from the committee in favour of Accueil Bonneau from Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, “Le Visage de la Charité Change” (Face of poverty is changing) aims to deconstruct this picture that could be thought to be familiar, in order to create a humane portrait of these persons. As astounding as our city is noisy and hectic, Montréal is also neglectful and insensitive regarding homelessness. However, homeless people represent more than half of all homeless people in Québec (Caremontreal, February 11, 2022). This is why the provincial program called «Stabilité résidentielle avec accompagnement» (Residential stability with accompaniment SRA) aims to revamp our streets, and mainly, our indifferent vision. Since 2013, SRA program offers permanent lodging with a minimum of condition and personalized support to homeless persons.
The face of poverty
“The face of poverty is changing”: we have all heard this sentence often used in the medias to stress the new problems produced by social inequities, but could hardly understand what that implied. It is one thing to know that inflation decreases purchasing power and that housing crisis created the catastrophic increase of leases, but one must not forget that, in the presence of these new pitfalls, new measures must be installed to support persons in need.
The “Stabilité résidentielle avec accompagnement” (Residential stability with accompaniment – SRA), tested for the first time in Montréal on 2013, follows a series of innovative solutions. Based on the principle that housing is the sine qua non condition for social reinsertion, this method aims to offer to those persons having had bouts of homelessness to have a roof over their head. SRA approach consists of two parts: subvention of a large part of lease-related costs, and weekly follow-up of the participants by an accompanying person. In addition to attending the development of autonomy and to making sure that good relationships between tenants and landlords are preserved, the accompanying persons help participants to overcome their limitations resulting from traumatic experiences they have had in the past. This latter function is of particular pertinence, since a large proportion of homeless population reports having been victim of abuses which affected their capability to react with other persons or to live elsewhere than on the street. In particular, several victims of domestic violence report having revival when in a lodging. It is precisely because of the personal nature of the remission process that SRA approach is not limited in time after which the participant would be left over.
Even though in its infancy, SRA approach is slowly proving itself to be an efficacious method to overcome new difficulties related to lodging searching and increase of cost of life. An increasing number of community organizations are using it, including Projet Logement Montréal, which works in collaboration with Accueil Bonneau.
Thr committee in support of Accueil Bonneau
Share your ideas with us !
Did you notice the familiar faces of our streets too? Don't hesitate to sharw your opinions and ieas on homelessness in our neighbourhood
You want to get involved in the community? You need resources for you to get someone close to you? Here are some resources in the neighbourhood that could help you.
- Résilience (support for homeless population in Cabot Square area. A wellbeing centre for the most vulnerable who try to get services that meet their needs)
- Native women’s shelter of Montreal (safe lodging and support open 24 hours a day, every day, for Aboriginal women and children who want to rebuild their life. Healing techniques and teaching of several First Nations cultures are offered along with other basic needs such as food and hygiene)