Once the keys to their home are in their pocket, all is not won for these people with a chaotic life path. “The challenge begins once they are in an apartment,” warns Ms. Labonté.
When any problem arises, talking calmly with your owner or with your neighbors, for example, “it’s sometimes difficult,” explains the speaker.
“Homeless people each have their own issues.”
— Elisabeth Labonté, homeless worker
Five people experiencing these challenges have been able to find accommodation since the intervention in winter 2023 of speaker Elisabeth Labonté.
Its mandate? Help up to 16 people experiencing homelessness, or at risk of becoming homeless, to find and maintain housing.
Five ex-homeless people with a roof over their heads
Quebec’s rent supplement program (PSL) makes all the difference in cases like these.
Elisabeth Labonté (Catherine Trudeau/La Voix de l’Est)
It is thanks to these PSL-homelessness that five homeless people now have their own apartment in Granby.
Ms. Labonté sees them each once a week, for six months. She then spaced the meetings every two weeks. She sometimes even follows them for more than a year, if necessary.
“I make sure everything is okay with them,” she said. They sometimes call me to help them, for example by going to SOS Dépannage to get food.”
Thanks to PSL-itinérance, one woman and four men contribute 25% of their income to their rent, three-quarters being paid by the government.
“This subsidy is an important incentive when approaching private housing owners. Otherwise, why would they take my candidate? she emphasizes, owners being very selective in the current context of lack of housing.
“There are ups and downs with these tenants. But things are still going well with the owners, the exchanges are good.”
— Elisabeth Labonté
Two additional PSLs
Despite their names, these homeless PSLs do not roam the streets.
Good news, however: the CIUSSS de l’Estrie has just granted two new PSL-roaming services to the Granby area.
This new card up the sleeve of the homeless worker has not yet allowed her to accommodate new people. It won’t be long, she says.
Ms. Labonté currently supports eight people, three of whom are still experiencing homelessness.
These people are referred to them by partner organizations: street workers from Impact de rue, workers from Partage Notre-Dame, or even those from SOS Dépannage.
Not everyone is ready
Not all homeless people are ready to live in housing and be supported, maintains Ms. Labonté.
She could theoretically take eight more people under her wing. She works in conjunction with partner organizations to recruit them.
Chronic instability and housing, however, do not go well together. Recruitment is not easy.
Some say they are interested, then the next day, fly away and become impossible to find.
The five ex-homeless people currently in an apartment represent “nice little victories”.
And the one who managed to take the plunge into her new apartment, but who was not yet ready to tell us her story, “has a remarkable journey,” assures Ms. Labonté.
“It’s not easy to seek help, to tell your story. You have to be open. It takes a lot of courage.”
— Elisabeth Labonté
