A Montreal homeless shelter is shutting down, and the city’s effort to relocate it was thwarted when residents around the new site fought the plan.
The Verdun borough’s Gordon shelter was hastily established in December as a temporary solution to the closure of a shelter in Chinatown, located in the old Guy-Favreau YMCA.
The 50-bed facility was set up in a former retirement home. Now, with it closing, the city sought to relocate it to a new site in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville.
However, the owner of that building suddenly backtracked and blocked the sale to the City of Montreal on July 26. The owner cited a lack of social acceptability of the project, as area residents organized protests and signed petitions against it.
Residents cited a lack of consultation and expressed concerns about the chosen location, considering it unsuitable due to nearby schools and daycare centres.
For the last eight months, the Gordon shelter has been run by the Société de développement social. Its general manager, Martin Raymond, told Radio-Canada that nearly 30 residents have been relocated to other sites since mid-July.
Only 11 people remained without accommodation on Wednesday afternoon, he said.
“It’s really a sad day for Montreal,” said Raymond. “We just lost 50 places, and that’s 50 fewer places to help people, even though we know the needs are there.”
Raymond said coexistence with neighbours went relatively well, with no major incidents. While acknowledging no perfect coexistence, he stressed the essential nature of these resources.
“The danger is that we don’t have the places to operate these resources,” said Raymond. “People don’t seem willing to welcome resources for vulnerable people.”
Julie Grenier, spokesperson for Mouvement pour mettre fin à l’itinérance à Montréal (MMFIM), noted that emergency shelters often operate in non-permanent premises, causing instability.
“We fuel the ‘not in my backyard’ phenomenon when we parachute resources in an improvised manner. It takes planning at the real estate level,” she said.
Aref Salem, leader of Montreal’s Official Opposition on city council, called the situation unacceptable, especially given the shelter’s closure was planned for months.
“The Plante administration put all their eggs in one basket by betting on the opening of the shelter in Ahuntsic-Cartierville,” he said.
The former retirement home that housed the temporary Gordon shelter is slated to be turned into 70 to 90 affordable housing units. Renovations were postponed to use the space as a short-term shelter. Closing the Gordon shelter also means about 30 street workers will be laid off.