Imagine going from working in high-end hotels to living on the streets.
Kevin Bruce became homeless after he suffered from a burnout. He says he was working as many as 80 hours a week as a cook.
READ MORE: Montreal homelessness problem goes beyond the downtown core: report
While he’s transitioning off the streets, he’s renting a room. But he says the services he needs, like food and guidance, are not easy to find.
“You learn that if you don’t have an addict problem or something, they can’t do anything for you,” Bruce said.
“They don’t know that [burnout]. There is no service for that.”
WATCH BELOW: What is burnout and can it be treated? Psychologist Camillo Zacchia explains.
One organization that can help is the Old Brewery Mission.
The Mission has grouped many services such as a criminologist, social workers and even psychologists from the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, under one roof.
Matthew Pearce, who runs the organization, says it’s necessary otherwise people struggling like Bruce fall through the cracks.
“Not everything fits into a hospital. Not everything fits into the normal structures that we consider,” Pearce explained.
“And when they don’t, we either ignore them at our peril and that’s what we see in the homeless population. We need to adapt. We need to change this.”
The Old Brewery Mission says change can start by putting an emphasis on mental health issues.
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