Beryl's Blog: One Person Is Too Many

It has happened again! Another homeless Indigenous person has died seeking shelter on a cold Montreal night.  And, or course, other non-Indigenous homeless men and women have met the same fate.  And this does not address the countless other homeless people who have died across this bountiful country called Canada.

As an active member of the United Church’s Nakonha:ka Regional Council Living Into Right Relations Committee for almost six years this, for me, is just another example of promises which are made and continually broken.

It appears that very little action has been taken by the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments since the publication of findings of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) which was officially launched in 2008 as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA).  

I feel compelled to share with you the following letter, if for no better reason than to relieve my own frustration regarding the continuing plight and indifference faced by the vulnerable in our own backyard.

If you read it and feel touched or inspired to take some type of action then I, a member of LIRR, have not been negligent in my commitment to speak out for those who do not have the power to speak out for themselves.

Should anyone want to help financially, I will provide information on how to do so with the Office.

In peace

Pastor Beryl

A CRY FOR HELP TO THE CITIZENS OF MONTREAL

November 14th, Elisapie Pootoogook, a member of Montreal’s Indigenous homeless community, was found dead. This Inuk Elder was seeking shelter in a condo development site, and that’s where her body was found.

What did Montrealers learn from Raphael Napa André, the unhoused Innu man who froze to death attempting to shelter in a chemical toilet last winter? It appears we learned nothing. The numbers of homeless people are skyrocketing throughout Montreal, yet far too little is done to address the breadth of the crisis, and the colder it gets, the more likely that inaction will result in further avoidable deaths.

On February 3, we opened the Raphael Andre Memorial Tent in Cabot Square, to offer as many as 16 people at once a place to take shelter during the winter. Since the opening, we have served over 45,000 people. Not just for food, rest, and warmth: the Raphael Andre Tent has helped homeless Montrealer’s seek treatment for substance abuse and to enter housing. The city has agreed to delay the Raphael Andre Memorial Tent’s dismantling until March 31st, 2022, but the tent itself was already too little, and as
Raphael Andre himself reminded us, too late.

The band-aid solution of tents is unsustainable: we need a permanent building, and we need it in the precise areas of the city in which homeless people already live—not in some distant borough. We know well that when the Open-Door shelter moved from Cabot Square to Milton Parc, much of the Cabot Square homeless community remained in place: we know better than anyone that we need to serve our communities where they live, not order them elsewhere in the city.

Meanwhile, mayor Valérie Plante promised $3 million for a permanent 24-7 shelter—but the City can’t find a location, and despite a desperate appeal to building owners in the vicinity of Cabot Square, it seems nobody wants to rent to an organization catering to the homeless Indigenous population. The search for a building continues, but as the nights get colder and colder, we can’t help but feel the increasing pressure of providing that safe space so that nobody else has to suffer the same horrible fate than Elisapie and Napa.

During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the homeless population of Montreal has suffered more acutely than any other group of Montrealer’s, and within their ranks, Indigenous homeless people have suffered the hardest. As society has gone cash-free, hundreds of homeless people who used to rely on
panhandling have lost access to their one means of income. Montrealers without homes have spent the pandemic with no place to go—and their numbers are increasing dramatically.

Homelessness in Montreal is at a point of crisis, and that crisis can very easily continue widening if Montrealer’s don’t take action. We are thus calling on Montrealers to support our efforts by donating to the Raphael Andre Tent and the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal. We are also calling on Montrealers
to demand their representatives act with decency toward our homeless communities, and to anyone who is able to offer a safe, permanent space around Cabot Square that could be rented, to please manifest themselves.

Decency isn’t expensive. In fact, the things homeless Montrealer’s need largely don’t cost very much, which is why Montrealer’s themselves made such a difference with private donations when we opened the Raphael Andre Memorial Tent. We are asking that Montrealers remember this, and continue to give as they can, knowing every single dollar we receive makes an enormous difference in the life of a Montrealer without a home.

The homeless Indigenous population of Montreal needs help, and human decency. Montreal needs help to be a more humane city. Montrealers can make it so. We can demand that no more unhoused Montrealer’s lives are lost.

Nakuset
Executive Director of the Native Women Shelter of Montreal

Mary Martin-Goodleaf
Kahnawakero:non,
Funder and staff contributor to the Raphaël André Memorial Tent

 photo source: The Gazette