Royal Vic relief for packed shelters opens Tuesday

Space in old Royal Victoria Hospital expected to open on Tuesday

Despite the cold snap that has packed Montreal-area homeless shelters, there are no plans for an early opening of the emergency shelter in the old Royal Victoria Hospital. A spokesperson for the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal said Saturday the opening is still set for Tuesday. The Quebec government announced on Dec. 21 a section of the hospital left vacant after the move to the Glen site in 2015 will shelter up to 80 people and their pets from Jan. 15 to April 15. The emergency shelter will prioritize people with addiction problems or mental health issues, and any of the city’s shelters can refer someone there. For now, Montreal shelters — which have space for 957 — are packed as temperatures in the city dropped after a relatively mild holiday season. Nightly lows of minus 19 C on Saturday and minus 18 Sunday will give way to less harsh overnight temperatures of minus 12 Monday and minus 9 Tuesday before dropping again, to minus 22 on Wednesday. Matthew Pearce, president and CEO of the Old Brewery Mission, said every bed in that shelter has been filled for the past few days. But the Old Brewery has been working with the Maison du Père and the Welcome Hall Mission to co-ordinate services. If someone arrives at one shelter where there’s no room, they are taken where there is room, if not necessarily a bed, he said. “It’s working as well as it can — we try our best,” said Pearce, adding the Old Brewery operates a shuttle bus every night that is used to transfer people from one shelter to another. “But it’s not a great solution. It means some people are sleeping at a cafeteria table or on the floor. It’s not proper, hygienic or appropriate.” The Old Brewery Mission’s shuttle circulates from 2 p.m. to 8 a.m. to get people to the services they need. The Mission St-Michael/ Toit rouge, located near Place des Arts, also opens its doors nightly until March 31 to allow people to warm up. The “Red Roof ” will also have cages for animals. But starting Tuesday, for the first time, the Royal Victoria will become an “overflow” shelter, Pearce said, and welcome many of the people who don’t usually use shelter services — like transgender people, and people with pets. “Instead of having people sleeping in an undignified environment, they’ll have a proper place to be,” Pearce said, adding the three shelters are sharing the extra work in terms of transport to the Royal Victoria, managing operations and cleaning up. “It won’t be a five-star hotel but it will be an appropriate space for them.” In the meantime, the CIUSSS, Montreal police, Urgences-Santé and community organizations have set up services to help those in need. Notably, beds have been added to shelters that will remain open during the day.