Tensions continue to rise between a supervised injection site and local residents in Saint-Henri. The Maison Benoit Labre says a recent staffing crisis has been solved and it is working hard to reduce its impact on the area, including an elementary school.
Feeling scared and angry, however, citizens are discussing ways to take their opposition to the next level.
On Monday, police officers intervened in front of Maison Benoît Labre on Atwater Avenue. They appeared to detain two men and take them into custody.
According to local residents, it’s a scene that is all too common these days.
“It’s out of hand, obviously,” said a nearby resident who asked Global News not to broadcast his name. The man said he has called 911 several times after seeing illicit drug use out in the open. Global News saw drugs being consumed near a Bixi stand in front of the facility on Monday.
Open since mid April, Maison Benoît Labre is a new resource that offers services for some of the city’s most vulnerable people.
It has about 30 transitional housing units, and offers food, employability programs and more.
“There’s a lot of people that are slowly, picking up the pieces, mapping out their lives,” said Andréane Desilets, the executive director of Maison Benoît Labre. “When you’re not in survival mode, it’s a bit easier to see what’s next.”
Though it’s just a small part of the facility’s operations, the supervised injection and inhalation site seems to generating the most concern, as mentally ill people dealing with addiction problems spill into the neighbourhood. Victor-Rousselot Elementary School is right next door, along with its playground.
“These people don’t have any control over themselves,” said Mustafa Mofidi, a senior citizen living in an apartment building on Greene Avenue right across from Maison Benoît Labre.
He said he regularly hears people wildly screaming, and that he’s seen people expose themselves and relieve themselves right outside his window, in full view of the school playground.
The resident who didn’t want to be named said he he has seen the same things happen in front of the children.
Desilets understands that even making a dent in the problem will help improve the society those children grow up in.
“It’s a hard situation for everyone, ” said Desilets. “We do understand; we are trying to do something about it.”
She said children all over Montreal, including her own daughter, are being exposed to drug users more and more. She feels the work done at Maison Benoît Labre will help make a dent in the problem to improve the world those children grow up in.
“If we don’t do something about it, then what are we leaving as a world for them?” she said.
After a staffing problem partially halted services earlier in June, Desilets says the centre is now fully operational. More security guards have been hired, specifically to be on hand during the school day. The director says intervention workers are doing a better job of containing clients to one area.
With the housing crisis spiralling out of control, however, she thinks homeless, drug-addicted people will be coming face to face with other members of society more and more.
“The tents people are setting up here sometimes are just the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “This is a situation where we all need to sit down as a society, as a community, to figure out what are our next moves, because this is not going away.”
Desilets blamed cities and the province for years of under-investment on the homelessness problem, and for poor urban planning that leaves few possible locations to build resources.
Meanwhile, the neighbourhood is in the midst of crafting a strongly-worded letter with a list of demands for political leaders, including social services minister Lionel Carmant. He told Global News he’s asked the public health department to help the centre.
“I visited Maison Benoît Labre twice last week, and will also be participating in the committee roundtable to make sure that everything is taken into account and that the safety of every person in the region is assured,” said Carmant.