Frontline service at the Chomedey St. day shelter is available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Two free meals a day will be served.
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Chez Doris, an organization serving women in difficulty and those experiencing homelessness, has resumed frontline services it was forced to suspend temporarily at its Chomedey St. day shelter.
Faced with a shortage of staff, Chez Doris in late September suspended meal service and access to day beds at the day shelter and limited its clients’ access to caseworkers. Its 24-bed emergency night shelter nearby continued to operate, however, the day shelter functioned in a limited capacity and the social service centre on nearby Lambert-Closse St. remained open.
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Frontline service at the Chomedey St. day shelter resumes Monday at 8 a.m. and, for now, hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Two free meals a day will be served. Unhoused women along with women at risk of experiencing homelessness will be accepted, said Chez Doris executive director Marina Boulos-Winton.
While services were suspended, the organization was able to recruit, hire and train 15 new staff members and to carry out needed renovations including installing new flooring and replacing chairs and lighting. The space has been painted and the dining area expanded to accommodate 85 women, up from 50.
The organization is “still in hiring mode,” said Boulos-Winton. At least 20 to 25 more people will be hired, with the goal of the day shelter operating seven days a week and remaining open to 10 p.m., she said.
As well, more caseworkers are needed to help with the organization’s housing search and support program, she said. Through the Programme de supplément au loyer, a rent subsidy program underwritten by the Société d’habitation du Québec and municipalities, women who are autonomous enough live in apartments in the private rental market and pay in rent what they would pay in social housing — 25 per cent of their household income.
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Those women must be “super-autonomous,” said Boulos-Winton — and many Chez Doris clients are not. Many have been affected by trauma and violence. Many have mental health issues and many have encountered people who have taken advantage of their vulnerability.
Chez Doris was established at the western edge of downtown in 1977 as a day shelter for women in difficulty. It functioned that way for many years. But unhoused women are far more highly represented today among its clientèle — the average client is in her 50s — and the organization’s mandate has expanded.
A $1-million donation in 2018 from retired businessman Andrew Harper enabled Chez Doris to purchase a townhouse near its day shelter. A campaign raised $15 million from public and private sources and financed, among other things, renovations for the townhouse to become a 24-bed overnight shelter. It opened in September 2022.
“Andy Harper’s donation acted like a catalyst — and the pandemic also propelled us to step up to the plate and meet the needs,” said Boulos-Winton.
As the coronavirus pandemic took hold in 2020, a surge in the number of unhoused clients “revealed the extent to which female homelessness is often hidden,” she said at the time. For women who had been couch surfing or hanging out in places like shopping centres or 24-hour coffee shops, the pandemic meant they had nowhere to go. Chez Doris pivoted to offer 24-hour services.
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Another $1-million donation, this one from businessman Bash Shetty, made possible the purchase of a building in Montreal’s Village neighbourhood. It opened in June as a safe living environment for 20 women who have experienced homelessness or are at risk of being unhoused.
Then in October, women began to move into a former rooming house on De Champlain St. with 26 studio apartments; it is owned by the Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal and managed by Chez Doris.
Earlier this year Chez Doris acquired two adjacent buildings on St-Hubert St., the site of a former hotel, to convert to a rooming house to provide transitional social housing for 21 vulnerable women who have experienced homelessness or risk becoming homeless. The building needs renovation and will go to tender in January, said Boulos-Winton.
The organization’s operating budget, which was $750,000 when she became executive director in 2014, has expanded considerably. Before the pandemic, it was $2.4 million and there were 24 employees. Today the budget is close to $8 million and Chez Doris has a staff of 65.
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“Our mission is to help all women in difficulty and we have to do our work in preventing homelessness,” said Boulos-Winton. “We grew very quickly because we wanted to meet the needs. But when you grow, you see how it goes — and then you adjust.”
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Among the 15 women who have been hired are some in managerial and supervisory positions, including a senior director of operations. “Because we are now in five locations, a structure is needed to bring the organization to be more cohesive,” she said.
An increase in homelessness means there has been a push for charitable organizations to create social housing — but the problem is that budgets accorded for this type of housing are insufficient, said Boulos-Winton. The provincial health authority provides for a single employee in such facilities, but that’s not enough, she said.
“It has been an adjustment to offer residential services with support.”
A holiday party for women experiencing homelessness is planned, along with other festivities and gift distribution, said Boulos-Winton, and the holidays will also be celebrated at the Chez Doris residences.
“We wanted to open before the holidays to make sure women can celebrate the holidays and feel positive,” she said.
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