After two years of ongoing adaptation to meet the challenges of the pandemic, 2022-2023 was a year that saw a return to business as usual, within the context of a new normal when it comes to homelessness. COVID-19 laid bare some complex issues and created new ones that have considerably altered the face of homelessness in Montreal. The impact of the pandemic combined with the current housing crisis will long be felt.
In response to these new realities, we have been creative in developing and adapting our services, —prevention, emergency services and rehousing—to meet the specific needs of these new client groups. It is with this in mind that our Homelessness Prevention Department has developed some promising partnerships with organizations that work with specific populations such as asylum seekers. We have also developed a new Mobile Support Team focused on reaffiliation.
It is by staying on this path of developing long-term and adapted solutions that we will continue to meet the changing needs of people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
James Hughes
President and CEO
2022-2023 was the first full year of operation for the Old Brewery Mission’s Homelessness Prevention Department. Still in its infancy, our prevention team has made great strides. We are developing our expertise in this area in order to act both at the structural level, by supporting prevention through the work of the Québec Homelessness Prevention Policy Collaborative (Q-HPPC), and at the individual level, through our applied prevention programs. All our actions have a common goal: helping people in precarious situations avoid homelessness.
The effectiveness of our Homelessness Prevention Department depends largely on the collaborations we forge with new and long-standing partners. Since the launch of the service, we have established 10 partnerships. As a result, in a single year we received 90 referrals and helped 17 people find a housing solution suited to their needs.
2022-2023
referrals received
people moved into an adapted housing solution
people had found a housing solution and were waiting to move in
referrals received through the Après l’ombre program
During the year, our Homelessness Prevention Department became the main partner of the referral service of the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) for the Passerelle program. Launched as a pilot project in 2021, Passerelle is a prevention program that provides people at imminent risk of homelessness with psychosocial support and help in searching for accommodations until they move into a new home or are referred to another appropriate resource. Over the course of the year, 37 people were referred to the Prevention Department under this initiative.
The Old Brewery Mission actively contributes to the development of knowledge on homelessness through its research department and its participation in the Q-HPPC, created in partnership with McGill University.
In March 2023, the Old Brewery Mission's research department published its report on the perceptions held by officers from Montreal’s police department (SPVM) regarding their work with people experiencing homelessness. The findings and recommendations, based on interviews with SPVM officers conducted in 2021, were presented to SPVM personnel who deal with homelessness.
On November 25, 2022, Q-HPPC’s gender research group published its first report, which contained concrete recommendations for reforming Quebec’s laws to better protect women experiencing intimate partner violence. In conjunction with the report, an op-ed signed by the co-chairs of the gender research group and the co-chairs of Q-HPPC ran in Le Devoir and two articles were published in Le Devoir and The Gazette.
Emergency services, whether outreach or housing services, meet the basic needs of many people in precarious or homeless situations. These services remain essential to Montreal's homelessness ecosystem.
The Webster Pavilion remains our primary emergency shelter facility for men. Open 24/7, with a total capacity of 197, it offers a variety of programs to meet the specific needs of an increasingly diverse clientele. The annual occupancy rate held steady at 90%.
stays
During the year, we continued working closely with the Welcome Hall Mission to provide emergency housing services at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital’s Le Royer Pavilion. During the year, the occupancy rate at Le Royer Pavilion was 99%, a clear indication of the importance and need for this facility.
individuals stayed at the Le Royer Pavilion
As pandemic conditions improved during the year, the situation stabilized at the Patricia Mackenzie Pavilion (PMP), our emergency shelter for women. We were again able to offer emergency accommodation for up to 46 women a night through our various programs: Étape, Étape+, the PRISM mental health program and Voisines du PMP.
women used the services at Patricia Mackenzie Pavilion
Towards the end of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, several months of work went into setting up the support team for the Old Brewery Mission Mobile Clinic, powered by TELUS Health. The mobile clinic quietly began operating in March 2023, and was officially launched in April. In partnership with Accueil Bonneau, the Mobile Support Team offers cohabitation and reaffiliation support services, including tax clinics, legal clinics and referrals, to people experiencing homelessness in Montreal.
Thanks to the generosity of a private donor, we are able to launch a major renovation project at the Patricia Mackenzie Pavilion (PMP) and finally do away with the dormitory layout. The second floor, which houses the Étape and Étape+ programs, will be renovated to create 13 semi-private rooms that will house 26 residents. They will provide a more private, quieter and more relaxing environment for residents, facilitating the process of long-term reaffiliation.
As Montreal’s homeless population grows and changes, we need to find innovative solutions that are long-term and adapted to the realities of individuals to help more people get off the street. This means broadening our range of housing options. We are doing so through new community housing projects and by enlisting the help of private landlords.
2022-2023
people were living in Old Brewery Mission community housing
people received housing support through one of the Old Brewery Mission’s programs
of the people receiving housing support were women
people entered a rehousing program during the year
During the year, we opened the doors to our latest housing project for women, Voisines de Lartigue. Ideally located just a few steps from our Patricia Mackenzie Pavilion, the building includes 12 studio apartments that can accommodate women living in precarity.
The first residents moved in on August 1, 2022, and the facility was officially inaugurated on February 10, 2023 at a press conference attended by government representatives. The event generated extensive media coverage for the project and drew attention to our long-term solutions to homelessness.
The Tenaquip Foundation is an indispensable ally of the Old Brewery Mission that has supported our cause for years. Thanks to their generosity, Tenaquip Place, our community housing project in Lachine, will open in summer 2024.
The 19th edition of the Ken Reed Golf Tournament was held on August 8, 2022 with the support of The Tenaquip Foundation, a long-time donor to the Old Brewery Mission. A total of 120 golfers participated. Many of the Old Brewery Mission’s partners responded generously and we raised $270,300 to fund our programs and services.
Back again this year, the Mission pour Elles benefit gala was held on October 19, 2022. More than 250 members of our community attended and $343,920 was raised to support our women’s services!
As the pandemic situation improved over the course of the year, we were able to resume our flagship fundraising event, the Supper Experience. Over the course of the year, some 30 groups helped serve meals to residents at the Webster Pavilion, and $49,273 was raised.
In December, we launched “The street is not a home,” a new marketing campaign devised by the creative team at Insubordination to increase public awareness of homelessness and raise funds to support our programs. The campaign was rolled out through social media, television, posters and billboards.
As winter approached, we were fortunate to be able to partner with the non-profit thrift-store operator Renaissance. Renaissance set up two Walls of Kindness in Montreal to collect winter coats for people in need. Nearly 1,000 coats were donated for distribution to people experiencing homelessness in Montreal.
Your donations enable us not only to maintain our services but to improve them and to achieve the greatest possible impact. Thanks to your generosity, we are able to do what we do best, year after year, for people experiencing homelessness in Montreal.
