While downtown Montreal is recovering from the impacts of the pandemic, many building managers deplore the lack of support services for dealing with situations of homeless people in their buildings.
As the pandemic doubled the visibility of the homeless at its peak, problematic situations involving homeless people in buildings have multiplied in the downtown area. Change must come.
We all feel sympathy for the burden that homelessness entails. However, repressive measures employed by security guards or Montreal police does not seem to be the right solution when dealing with vulnerable people.
There seem to be a limited number of effective options. What other approaches can we pursue?
The Société de Développement Social (SDS) offers a mediation service, Action Médiation.
Action Médiation is an intervention service adapted to the realities of living with the homeless and other marginalized individuals in Montreal. For any distressing situation that a citizen, merchant or manager of large spaces may experience with a homeless person, Action Médiation is there to help with a human approach centred on the needs of both parties.
Action Médiation serves as a buffer zone before repressive intervention. Its service is based on a team of qualified and experienced staff who patrol and respond to emergency calls within 10 minutes. They provide various solutions to the immediate needs of the homeless, while also addressing the concerns of the citizen, merchant or manager.
Initially offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday, as of July 1, 2022 the Action Médiation services will place greater focus on opening and closing times of Montreal buildings, and will be available 7 days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
We invite you to take advantage of the approach offered by Action Médiation. In addition to being useful and effective, using their services is also a good corporate social responsibility initiative!
For more information on the various packages available:
Write to them at: info@courtier.social
Or call 514-705-6212