Roaming | Find refuge at the airport

They blend into the crowd of travelers, but will never leave. In almost all airports in the world, there are people in homelessness. At Montreal-Trudeau International airport, we set up a program to support them. Our columnist went to see it more closely.

One Wednesday morning in April, in the departures area to the United States, Kim Bouchard-Chayer is touring. The YMCA community worker sweeps away from the gaze space, looking for clues that would encourage him to approach a single person: someone sitting behind, for example, or who has been sipping the same coffee for a long time. The young woman notes things that go unnoticed in the eyes of travelers, often feverish before departure.

His approach is always the same: “Hello, my name is Kim, what are you going today?” Do you need something? »»

Kim is employed by the intervention program set up by the YMCA in Quebec, in collaboration with Montreal Airport (ADM) and the SPVM, in 2019. Pilot project at the start, this unique program in Canada was interrupted by the Pandemic before becoming permanent, in 2023.

“There was a desire that the situation does not crystallize, that people do not settle in their small routine,” observes Stéphane Larin, director, operations, safe and fight against fires, ADM.

The objective is to make the link between people in homelessness and resources that will meet their needs.

“Security is not the right approach in the case of roaming,” adds Stéphane Larin. You have to work the human behind the situation. »»

Problem with the problem

Montreal-Trudeau is not the only airport where people without a fixed address will Take refuge. Already, in 2015, Heathrow in London and Laguardia in new York, to name only them, testified to this new reality which affects the vast majority of airports on the planet. There are also freshly disembarked people who have no resources or whose situation requires emergency support.

As the YMCA was already present at Montreal bus station, with its first stop program, we called on its expertise for the airport.

In addition to supporting itinerant people, YMCA community workers offer training to the various actors present in Yul, from ambassadors to traders, including security agents. All these beautiful people meet once a week to take stock. Note that another organization, the company Makivvik, offers exclusive support to Inuit that land in Montreal-Trudeau.

A safe place

Kim Bouchard-Chayer sees in the distance a seated lady in front of the large bay windows. Near her, a few shopping bags. The speaker, who has known her for a few months, takes her news, and asks her if she would accept to speak to the journalist of The press. Yes, she answers, provided that she keeps anonymity.

“I’m lonely,” says the lady. I don’t like shelters and accommodation houses, where we are still cramped. There are far too many people. Here, I can move as I want, and stay in my corner if I wish. »»

It’s a whole series of unluckiness that led him to the street: evictions, identity theft … “Here I feel safe,” she assures me. I come by bus, and even in taxi sometimes. »»

Kim will explain to me that different stakeholders accompany this lady through the procedures required following the theft of her identity.

An increased clientele

In the past year, YMCA workers contacted around 150 people, at least 4 of whom were over 75 years old. The lady with whom I spoke is quite representative of the traveling customers of Yul, who is mainly made up of people over 45, mostly women. They meet at the airport – a clean, passing and safe place – for all kinds of reasons: domestic violence, eviction of accommodation, absence of a support network …

“On average, we see a dozen people a day,” notes Jade Otis, coordinating assistant, middle work, at the YMCA in Quebec. The mornings and winter are more busy. Several leave early and come back in the evening, dependent on the season. »»

The airport is not within the reach of all budgets: you have to pay $ 22 for the round trip with the STM 747 bus. Despite this, the number of people has increased over the years.

“For some people, this is an investment in the perception of their security,” says Isabel Gervais, principal advisor, prevention of exclusion, to Quebec YMCA.

The arrival of the REM (one day …) could change the situation by making access to the airport easier, a possibility of which everyone is aware. “This is a challenge for which we are preparing,” admits Mr. Larin. The REM will be a direct link with the city center and we will have to see how we reach our program to this new reality. »»

A change in perception

The work of the YMCA workers allowed the other entities at the airport to consider homelessness. “As a police officer, we are used to intervening in an emergency,” said Annie-Claude Pelletier, local coordinator in community police at the Sûreté du Québec, who took over from the SPVM in Montreal-Trudeau last January. “The speakers showed us how to take our time and establish a bond of trust. »»

Same story from Stéphane Larin who, before being used by ADM, spent 30 years at the Sûreté du Québec. “Behind each story, there is a childhood, a family, then a succession of Bad Lucks And bad decisions, he recalls. I was rather rigid before. The YMCA workers helped to show me that behind each story, there is a potential, a chance to get back on the rails. »»

The program, financed entirely by ADM, has existed for about two years and already, it has had great successes. Like this man in the thirties who had frequented the airport since well before the pandemic. “We managed to establish a bond of trust when at the beginning, he was very recalcitrant,” says Isabel Gervais of the Ymca. We put him in touch with other speakers, we were able to find him mental health resources, develop a medication plan. It was a long -term intervention and today he is in autonomous housing and he returned to his family. »»

A story that ends well, and which I will remember, the next time I take the plane. For some, the airport is much more than the starting place towards new adventures. It is sometimes the prelude to a new life …What do you think? Take part in the dialogue