Last month’s editorial garnered a lot of attention from readers, community leaders, and even the CBC. This is great because the more light we can shine on issues like poverty and homelessness in the West Island, the more we can be proactive on this important topic.
Some people were not clear about how the concept of Le Sanctuaire could work, so let’s delve into it.
The idea is a simple one. There is a need for a “central” referral centre near Highway 40 and Saint-Jean Blvd. because it is the hub of the West Island. This referral centre would house representatives from our various agencies, organizations, and community groups who are on the front line helping to combat issues like food insecurity and homelessness. Among the other services provided, there could also be professionals working in areas of health (medical, dental, and psychological), consultants for legal or housing needs, social workers, programs for at-risk youth, or even a cup of hot coffee.
There would be no need to move the operations of the current groups; we just need to make their services more accessible as well as raise awareness about their existence.
Providing services in a more central location changes the implementation of how we do things from a reactionary model to a preventive one, stopping a bad situation from occurring before it starts. As a society, we do not want Sylvie or Paul to find themselves in dire straits when all they need is a little bit of help to make their current situation sustainable. Let’s change the model of how services are provided!
Let’s use a healthcare analogy with which we’ve all, sadly, become familiar. There is no need for a Level I Trauma Centre on every corner; sometimes a local clinic can solve the problem, and at other times a first aid kit with a set of instructions prevents things from getting worse.
Le Sanctuaire is the first aid kit with a variety of tools, and not just a temporary Band-Aid solution. Le Sanctuaire provides the different tools necessary to prevent a worsening situation.
This isn’t a “flip the switch” solution by any means. It will take a lot of dialogue with many different players, but preliminary discussions with some of these organizations indicate that there is interest in accomplishing, in the wise words of Sam Watts, “good work, done better.”
We can do better, and we need to be proactive now, not be scrambling to fix things 10 years down the road when the West Island is facing a full-blown crisis. In this municipal election, ask your mayoral candidates what their plans are for local housing and other key social issues – their platforms should include solutions and not just burying their heads in the sand.
To learn more about this new concept to tackle poverty and homelessness in the West Island, click here to listen to a recent CBC Daybreak interview with Barry Christensen, founder of Stepping Up/Un Pas Vers l’Avant.