News that the Radisson Community Centre location on St. Dominique Street in downtown Montreal will soon be closed was met with anger among the staff and clients.
“The first thing that came to my head was, ‘These people are disgusting,'” client Kevin Lussier said from his wheelchair following a protest outside the complex.
By “these people” he meant officials at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, which owns the building. According to youth program co-ordinator Benoit Verger Demers, they were trying to confirm the status of their lease.
“They gave us the answer on Dec. 28 of 2023, so during the holidays, that we would need to go out by March 2024,” he told Global News.
The Radisson asked for and got an extension for December this year, but he said that doesn’t solve the problem.
For a decade the centre has been providing a variety of activities for people who have physical disabilities to help prevent isolation. According to Verger Demers, as many as 60 people go daily. He said the building isn’t just accessible for clients with reduced mobility, but that it’s also been designed and adapted to suit their needs.
“It’s not easy to find a new place,” client Sandro François said, “so I guess it never crossed my mind that we would have to leave here.”
And because of the current housing crisis, it’s even worse for organizations like the Radisson, Verger Demers pointed out. It means they don’t have many options, so they’re trying to pressure CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal officials to change their minds.
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A CIUSSS spokesperson said, however, that they need the space and told the centre so in 2021.
“We came to the conclusion that we were lacking some space to offer some services to our population, especially mental health, population,” spokesperson Jean Nicolas Aubé said.
He also pointed out that the problem of space extends across the health network.
Quebec Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant said health authorities have been trying to help the centre.
“I’ve asked the CIUSSS to continue looking for a space, because obviously it’s important to give services to people with special needs,” he said. “I think we’re going to continue accompanying them until we find a proper solution.”
It’s a solution that clients say can’t come soon enough.
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