Homelessness on the rise in Saint-Roch: “If it continues to deteriorate, we will consider leaving”

Cohabitation between workers and itinerants is organized in different ways from one end of Rue Saint-Joseph to the other, sometimes pushing certain businesses to reconsider their model.

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“If things continue to deteriorate, we will consider leaving”

The owner of the Doki Doki sound creation studio does not hide his hesitation to stay longer in the neighborhood given the more difficult cohabitation with the homeless. “Yes, I thought about leaving,” says Michel Labrecque, whose studio produces music for video game companies. It would pain me to leave, but I am for everyone’s safety and if things continue to deteriorate, we will definitely consider it.

Moved to Beauport to raise his son

After living for more than five years in Saint-Roch, Steven Milhomme decided to move to Beauport to raise his son in a quieter environment. “I couldn’t see myself doing this here and like playing in a courtyard that overlooks a street here,” explains the man who has worked at the Fanamanga store for around fifteen years and who has seen the “evolution” of the neighborhood. “It’s not just Lauberivière that’s the problem,” believes the young father. The ongoing economic crisis, homelessness, everyone’s monetary problems, all of that comes into play.”

Employees trained to intervene

The employees of Librairie Pantoute requested training from a social worker from their manager to better manage the rise in homelessness in the Saint-Roch district and its impacts on customers. “They were not equipped to deal with these situations on a daily basis. The goal is to better help these people and direct them to help resources,” explains the director of the bookstore, Isabelle Verrette. No other merchant encountered by The Journal did not see fit to train its employees in this area.

Terrace closed for two years

The Nektar Caféologist from Saint-Roch made the decision to no longer have a terrace, mainly due to the headaches caused by the presence of homeless people. “They came there to smoke or beg for money. We had to constantly manage that, so we made the decision to close it,” says the café manager, Bertrand Charpentier. His counterpart at the EXO store, Mathieu Dhani, adds a layer: itinerant people consume drugs in the middle of rue Saint-Joseph in front of a vacant building, right next to the café, “in broad daylight, without hiding.”