After spending months homeless, a citizen of Rimouski, in Bas-Saint-Laurent, could be forced to return there, due to lack of housing.
On the eve of July 1st and still without a home, Jean-François Daraîche will have to return to living on the street if he cannot find affordable accommodation.
The 33-year-old man knows the Parc de la Gare in Rimouski well, a camp formerly popular with the homeless. This is where he lived for five months between June and October 2023.
After leaving the region for a few months, the man originally from Longueuil returned to settle in Rimouski where he found a 40-hour-a-week job.
“When I returned to Rimouski in December, I called 811 option 2, they paid for the motel for about a month and then I went to Saint-Fabien, it didn’t work out,” explained Mr. Daraîche.
Since then, he has taken refuge in the basement of an apartment that one of his friends is renovating. However, he had to leave the premises on Wednesday for security reasons.
Unable to find accommodation due to the high prices, he must now resign himself.
“Being on the street is not a life, I lose the will to live when I am on the street. I would like to live a happy life, but I feel like I can’t live life here,” he testified.
The 33-year-old man tried to knock on various doors to get help, but without success.
Remember that the vacancy rate is historically low at 0.6% in Rimouski, according to the most recent data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
