Funding for a temporary homeless shelter established during the pandemic is coming to an end on March 31.
The Hôtel-Dieu site will no longer serve the unhoused in the downtown east population, leaving users of the more than 100-bed shelter in limbo.
“We appreciate the shelter being there, but we will continue to do the work in a new space if that is the decision,” James Hughes, president and CEO of the Old Brewery Mission.
The Old Brewery alongside with the Welcome Hall Mission have been supporting the emergency shelter.
The local health authority, which funds the shelter’s operations, said in a statement, this was always a temporary solution.
The transition of the emergency shelter has been discussed with all parties for several months, in order to give the organizations time to prepare for the move, said Jean-Nicolas Aubé, spokesperson for the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
Optimistic, Hughes says the move could be beneficial to the community.
“One hundred eighty-six people is a big facility. Scaling that down to a number of facilities with 50 or more — something more human size –would potentially make the success we’re having better,” Hughes said.
According to Hughes, some 300 people who have come through the shelter have found housing. However, with the end-of-March deadline fast approaching, a new space to house everyone has not yet been found.
The executive council member responsible for the city’s homeless, Robert Beaudry, says at this time the city is playing a supportive role.
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With a growing need for services, Beaudry is promising the 186 beds will not disappear, but will simply be moved somewhere else.
“We want to avoid a breakdown of services because it’s a vulnerable population. We know the needs did not decrease. We need to keep the same amount of shelter units,” city councillor Robert Beaudry said.
Beaudry says the city is looking for more permanent solutions to the housing issue.
He wants to see more long-term shelter projects go up in the city.
In the meantime, the local health authority says it is still uncertain what the former hospital will be used for once the shelter is removed.
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