Devcore confirms the end of its services at the Guertin Arena camp

As anticipated for several weeks, the promoter Devcore confirms the end of its services in the camp set up in the parking lot of the Robert-Guertin arena, in Gatineau. The incompatibility of the terrain in the summer season as well as the exhaustion of funds allocated to the project resulted in the company’s withdrawal.

Launched last December by private investors under the leadership of the Devcore group, the secure camp project with heated tents to accommodate people experiencing homelessness will not be extended.

May 2024 as planned”,”text”:”The emergency winter solution including access control and secure perimeter, an intervention trailer as well as toilets for people experiencing homelessness, will end on May 15 2024 as planned”}}”>The emergency winter solution including access control and secure perimeter, an intervention trailer as well as toilets for people experiencing homelessness, will end on May 15, 2024 as plannedindicates the company in a press release.

Despite the City’s proposal to extend the agreement, Devcore made the difficult decision not to maintain current services, considering that conditions were not favorable during the summer season.

Among the reasons given, the company explains that the constraints specific to the Guertin site – such as the fact that the land is located on a heat island, the absence of sanitary blocks as well as the future work planned on the land – do not left the company no other choice but to withdraw.

In its press release, the group also confirms that the funding allocated to the project has now been exhausted. We must also mention the exhaustion of private funds allocated to this initiative since the beginning of April, we can read.

The project partners, namely the City, the CISSS de l’Outaouais and local organizations were notified on Monday of the Devcore group’s decision to withdraw its services from the camp.

Tents will be donated

Teams of volunteers as well as Devcore employees will proceed on May 15 [au] dismantling and [au] relocation of infrastructure such as fences, security booth, electrical shed, camera system and toilets within the camp located near the Robert-Guertin arena.

The workers as well as the security agents responsible for the camp will also leave the site in mid-May.

However, the Devcore group specifies that the red tents installed this winter and the equipment that goes with them – such as beds, sleeping bags and lamps – will be given to the people who occupy them. Removable mosquito nets as well as white tarpaulins will also be offered to limit the heat as best as possible during the summer.

A container project

Despite the end of its camp near the Robert-Guertin center, the developer Devcore wishes to continue its involvement with people experiencing homelessness by building tiny houses in containers.

This project would provide transitional housing for the homeless, according to Nancy Martineau, director of humanitarian projects at Devcore.

The tents were for the winter period. So there, to continue the project and offer a roof to these people […] we want to set up a kind of village, a transitional space in which people can be accommodated in converted containers. So, we think of insulated, heated, air-conditioned containers, doors and windows, furniture, a bathroom, a space with a sink and common areas for workers and users.explained Ms. Martineau in an interview with On the spot.

We close this chapter with pride, and it gives us the necessary momentum to focus on phase 2 of the project: the creation of a container village for around 100 people, for 2 to 5 years.

While the choice of land to install these new containers remains unknown, a complete redevelopment plan for the Guertin site – including around fifty habitable containers – was officially presented by Devcore last week to the City of Gatineau and roaming organizations.

Devcore proposes to install these habitable containers on the southern portion of the Guertin site, along Boulevard des Allumettières, even if the proposed land is not that desired by the developer.

I would like to clarify that this is not the optimal terrain for us. We had other proposals, and there seemed to be resistance from the community. We experience the phenomenon of footsteps in my yard everywherelamented Nancy Martineau.

For its part, the City indicated by email that the municipal services concerned were contacted in order to quickly analyze the feasibility of the proposal, the necessary costs and the timetable which would allow it to move forward if the solution is retained.

With information from Alexandra Angers and Mama Afou