The layoff of around twenty employees of an organization that fights against drug addiction due to a lack of funding is only the tip of the iceberg, with several centers at risk of closing for lack of money, a alerted an expert.
“The lack of funding in the centers is appalling,” said Jessica Turmel, coordinator at the Psychosocial Research and Intervention Group (GRIP) Montreal, in an interview with LCN.
She then reacted to the cut in services from the Portage organization, which found itself obliged to abolish positions and eliminate beds in some of its accommodation resources in the province.
“It has major impacts, we are talking about grassroots intervention and preventing even more serious problems when we talk about homelessness and the opioid crisis, overdoses, these are impacts that we will find many times over. more and more,” explained Ms. Turmel.
According to her, “nearly half” of shelters are at risk of closing their doors due to lack of money, especially since some of these organizations have funding that ends this year.
“What risks happening is that people will have to go to the streets when beds are no longer available,” she stressed.
Removing these services especially reduces prevention actions and lengthens waiting lists, forcing people who need help to sometimes wait two months to meet a need that is often urgent.
“The costs are higher at the end of the day. All the money we put into treating people with problems is money we save later,” judges Ms. Turmel.
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