Community dinner to aid homeless youth

A West Island non-profit that offers help to youth at risk of violence, drug addiction, poverty and homelessness is raising money to build a new youth shelter in Pierrefonds.

On Thursday from 6 to 11 p.m., the Sheltering Youth One Brick at a Time community dinner will raise funds for Action jeunesse de l’Ouest-de-l’Île (AJOI) to create Ricochet, a project which will include the West Island’s first shelter for young adults who are homeless.

The event will be held at La Petite Adresse, 3339E Sources Blvd. in Dollard-des- Ormeaux. Tickets are $35 for adults and $25 for children, and include dinner, dessert and live music.

Although people think of the West Island as a fairly wealthy area, AJOI director Tania Charron noted homelessness is a bigger problem here than most people realize. A 2013 study done in conjunction with the City of Montreal and Université du Québec à Montréal revealed what Charron calls “hidden homelessness.”

Youth in the West Island who don’t have a stable place to live may turn to sleeping in their cars, she said, couch-surf for months or crowd as many as 10 people into a three-and-a-half apartment.

Some even trade domestic or sexual services in exchange for a place to stay.

“It’s not visible, and that’s why our outreach workers are the ones who diagnose it,” Charron said.

Currently, young adults who lack a safe place to sleep are referred to shelters in Vaudreuil-Dorion or downtown, Charron said. Because it can be difficult to get from the other centres to the West Island without a car, this can have the effect of isolating already vulnerable people.

“It breaks their social safety net, because it brings people out of their community,” said Charron. “We want to help them in their community.”

Ricochet aims to provide social housing for young adults aged 18 to 35 with unstable living conditions.

A $1.8-million project is on the table to build 16 units adjacent to la Residence Bienvenue at the corner of Gouin Blvd. and Perron St. in Pierrefonds, which provides housing for young adults diagnosed with mental health issues.

In addition to the social housing project, AJOI is also working on a plan to build the first emergency shelter for youth in the West Island.

For more information on Ricochet, visit ricochetwestisland.com. To learn more about AJOI, visit www.ajoi.info.