Women’s shelters demand equal funding
Receive fraction of money provided to organizations that primarily serve men
Montreal’s two largest shelters for homeless women combined forces Thursday to denounce what they called a history of inequity in the public funding of their institutions.
Directors of the Patricia Mackenzie Pavilion of the Old Brewery Mission and Le Chaînon said the Quebec government covers only nine per cent of the costs of emergency services they provide like beds and meals, while similar organizations, most of whom serve men, are funded at 50 per cent.
“It’s a question of flagrant and historical inequity,” said Marcèle Lamarche, executive director of Le Chaînon, which has beds for 66 women to stay each night, and has been in existence for 85 years. “How is it that we can we be so present in the community and be so well known, yet be so invisible to our government?”
The lack of funding means much of the organizations’ efforts go to raising 90 per cent of the money needed to run their emergency shelters, meal services, housing programs and social support. Money comes from private donors, foundations, door-to-door and mailing campaigns and corporations.
“Our work is no longer just a matter of giving people a bowl of soup and a bed,” said Patricia Mackenzie Pavilion director Florence Portes. “Now there’s psycho-social counselling, psychiatric referrals, gerontology and providing lodging and support services.” Each shelter provides emergency housing to about 600 women each year that can stretch from days to months. Women who end up at their shelters have typically exhausted all other resources, including staying with friends, family or former partners.
The women’s shelters say the disparity started in 2009, when the government adopted new measures to fund emergency services at 50 per cent, but said the Patricia Mackenzie and Le Chaînon did not fall into the criteria required. Le Chaînon receives $210,000 annually from Quebec; Patricia Mackenzie just under $170,000. If they received government grants similar to their sister organizations, that funding would rise to $1 million each annually, they said.
The last straw came when the government promised $10 million to homeless shelters last June, but gave Patricia Mackenzie $20,000 and Le Chaînon nothing. The organizations were told there was no money left in the till. “If they found $14 million in last March’s budget to improve the recycling of aluminum cans, I think there’s still a way to find money for organizations like us,” Lamarche said.
Comparing the financing given to shelters for men with that provided for women can be difficult because of differences in the services they offer and the volume of clients handled, said Alexandra Régis, press attaché for Quebec’s minister responsible for social services, Lucie Charlebois.
One of the factors explaining the gap in funding, she wrote in an email, is the fact Le Chaînon did not respond to criteria for increased funding because it had revenues of more than $4 million in 2015-2016, which was above the average of $1.6 million for shelters. Régis noted as well that Le Chaînon is affiliated with Fondation le Chaînon, which raises funds for the organization.
Patricia Mackenzie, Régis noted, received $20,000 in annual funding as part of an increase in monies granted by the ministry of health and social services.
The directors of both women’s shelters said there’s a sense they ’re victims to the success of their fundraising campaigns. Thursday’s news conference was just the start in their campaign to receive “equitable funding,” they said.
“What is not acceptable is to say it’s private businesses and ordinary citizens who by their contributions run organizations like ours,” Portes said. “A government that says it wants to make a difference and to support social development and find long-term solutions, they have to put their hands in their pockets.”
How is it that we can we be so present in the community and be so well known, yet be so invisible to our government?