In his small room with a single bed, Rohit can hang his coat, charge his phone and store his clothes in a locker.
It’s not much, but it’s a start, he says, after struggling to find his footing in Quebec since arriving from India as a student in 2019.
“You can shut the door,” he said. “You have privacy.”
Only months ago, this same space was part of an open room of a homeless shelter where as many as 30 people slept in bunk beds.
Now, it has been divided into more than a dozen semi-private, with a bunk bed to accommodate two clients.
The same switch has been made across the five floors of the Old Brewery Mission’s Webster Pavilion, Montreal’s largest emergency shelter for men.
The Old Brewery Mission’s Webster Pavilion now features semi-private rooms with two beds. There is also a locker for each client. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC)
The change has meant a slight reduction in capacity for the previously 185-bed shelter, but workers say it was a crucial step.
The transformation, which took about eight-months, was made possible by a $1 million donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The new rooms will be officially opened at a news conference Friday.
The Old Brewery Mission made the same change at its women’s shelter, the Patricia Mackenzie Pavilion, last December.
“It’s just a sense of dignity. Having your own plug, your own light, being able to rest if you work,” said Mila Alexova, the co-ordinator of outreach services at the Old Brewery Mission.
“It’s kind of basic needs in a human.”
Mila Alexova is the co-ordinator of outreach services at the Old Brewery Mission. (Benjamin Shingler/CBC)
As elsewhere in Canada, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Montreal has exploded since the pandemic.
Between 2018 and 2022, the latest government data available, the number of homeless across the province doubled to roughly 10,000. About half that number are based in Montreal. Experts say that number has only grown, and the true number is likely far higher.
In her outreach work, Alexova meets with a lot of people reluctant to go to a shelter. Some of them prefer to stay in one of the encampments that have become common across the city.
Alexova began working at the mission nearly four years ago, and worked through the pandemic. She said the threat of illness made people even more hesitant about being in a dorm setting.
While giving a tour of the new rooms on Thursday, Alexova recalled stressful nights when staff had to go from bunk to bunk, taking people’s temperatures and listening for coughing.
“A lot of clients will tell you there’s no way they are sleeping in dormitories,” she said.
The Old Brewery Mission was founded 135 years ago as a soup kitchen. Increasingly, it is focused increasingly beyond its shelter walls, with more long-term housing and outreach programs. (Benjamin Shingler/CBC)
A step toward more permanent housing
Providing a welcoming space at the emergency shelter is one way to help people experiencing homelessness transition to find more permanent housing, she said.
“We also see a lot of improvement for clients that have health issues and mental health issues actually.”
The Old Brewery Mission, which began as a soup kitchen in 1889, is focused increasingly beyond its shelter walls, with more long-term housing and outreach programs.
Some clients can stay for months in one of the rooms as they work with staff to come up with a plan for their next steps.
Rohit, who requested not to be identified by his full name because his family doesn’t know his situation, said he developed a drinking problem after arriving in Canada to study.
He stayed in a dorm with more than two dozen people when he first arrived at the shelter, more than a year ago. He said it was loud and difficult to sleep.
Rohit said his current living situation gives him the space to think about what could be next.