Pearce proud of ‘revolution’ at Mission
Retiring in fall after 12 years at helm, CEO of non-profit transformed shelter, services
When asked to describe what he’s most proud of after 12 years at the helm of the Old Brewery Mission, Matthew Pearce has trouble naming just one thing. And for good reason.
Not many people can boast a list of accomplishments as long as Pearce’s — not that he would ever boast.
Under his watch, the organization founded in 1889 has gone from primarily providing shelter to those down-and-out souls living on the streets of Montreal, to finding them permanent housing. It has moved from putting Band-aids on severe mental health issues to treating psychological illness as an underlying cause. It has shifted from managing homelessness to solving it.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Pearce, who will retire from the Old Brewery Mission at the end of September, has presided over a monumental shift in how Montrealers view homelessness — and how governments and organizations respond to it. Not bad for a former globe-trotting international development guy who wasn’t even sure he wanted the job.
“This hasn’t been a period of evolution at the Mission — it’s been a period of revolution,” Pearce said, reflecting on his dozen years of service. “We haven’t just tweaked things — we have fundamentally changed our own orientation to the cause of homelessness, our own understanding of homelessness, our own vision of how we can contribute to homelessness reduction and the end of chronic homelessness.”
Pearce signed on as CEO in 2008 as the seeds of this revolution were being sown.
Long-held stereotypes about homeless people as lost causes who prefer living on the streets were being challenged. And provocative questions were being asked, such as: is it more affordable and effective to give the homeless permanent homes than to keep providing emergency services?
Pearce oversaw the creation of the pioneering PRISM project, which brings health care directly to sufferers of the most debilitating psychiatric issues, offering accommodation and support services while they are stabilized. The aim of the program is to treat the underlying causes of homelessness and get patients off the streets for good. PRISM is so successful, it has since expanded to the Welcome Hall Mission and Accueil Bonneau.
Unprecedented co-operation is another major achievement. Instead of operating in silos, organizations that deal with homelessness in Montreal are now finding common purpose.
“We’re not a lone voice out there anymore, as we were for some time,” Pearce said. “Now we hear others using the same kind of language around homelessness. And that I’m very pleased about, because we are stronger working together than we are separately.”
The Old Brewery Mission also invested in a team of researchers. They are employed by the community-based non-profit, but report to experts at Mcgill University’s School of Social Work. This puts the Mission on the leading edge of data collection and knowledge gathering.
“We’re not just spreading the word — we were acting,” Pearce said. “So everything we said about homelessness, we were able to back up by actions that showed that we were on the right path.”
Despite these many feats, the last few months have been among the most gruelling for Pearce.
“COVID did not arrive with a procedures manual, and we had to kind of make that up,” he said.
Pearce doesn’t know what he’ll be doing when he wakes up on Oct. 1, or what the next chapter of his life holds.
“I don’t mind spending a few weeks maybe sitting in the rocking chair or taking it easy,” he joked.
But he bows out knowing that he has left the Old Brewery Mission in good hands. James Hughes, who will replace Pearce as CEO, was also his predecessor, serving as director general from 2004 to 2008. Pearce credits Hughes with laying the groundwork for the changes he undertook.
“The revolution in thinking has happened. Now we have to make sure that we act in a way that’s consistent,” Pearce said. “I think we’re on the right path. We’ve just got to keep on that path.”