Space squeeze for homeless

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by Craig Segal

With homeless shelters already at over-capacity, organizers are demanding extra spaces to get people off the streets this winter. "We have 50 people sleeping in the cafeteria," says Father Robert Warren, executive director of the Old Brewery Mission. The shelter--which keeps regular and occasional boarders--has had 19 per cent more of the latter than this time last year.

"Overcrowding means you are mixing people up and all protocols go to hell. Peacekeeping also gets stressed. The younger men bully the older men for cigarettes. It's awful," Father Warren says. Like other street workers, he blames the increase on government cutbacks to services for the mentally ill and drug addicts. "We're picking up other people's slack." He says the city needs a space with beds immediately. Failing that, he is prepared to shock the government by "letting the problem get worse if that won't hurt our [clients]."

A volunteer at the Welcome Hall Mission blames recent layoffs for an increase in poor families at the shelter. And an employee at Le Roc youth shelter says as many as 100 extra people show up in a day, many of them older than regular clientele. A spokesperson for newly elected mayor Gérald Tremblay made no promises. "We are waiting to finalize the budget with the federal government," says Sylvie Bussières. She says Tremblay will not provide any beds until the Montreal Summit, a massive policy conference scheduled within his first 100 days. :