unhoused montrealers discharged from hospital have a pathway to recovery in pilot project
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leo mclean, 61, is one of the participants in a pathway to recovery, a 12-week pilot project launched in january by the health and social services agency for west-central montreal and the ymcas of quebec. it offers private rooms to men and women experiencing homelessness after discharge from the jewish general hospital and montreal general hospital, as well as people referred by intervention teams that work with the unhoused population.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
leo mclean has been in and out of hospital with health problems and had to start using a walker, all while living full time on the street during the past year.
but thanks to a pilot project launched in january by the health and social services agency for west-central montreal and the ymcas of quebec, the 61-year-old isn’t convalescing in the cold at the moment. mclean has a room, his own shower, meals and all the medical followup and community support he needs to manage his recovery so he can start to focus on finding a permanent home.
“it’s looking a lot better than it did,” mclean said of his prospects as he showed his room in a tupper st. building managed by the ymca near atwater ave. that until recently housed asylum seekers.
“at least now i have resources and the resource people to help me in this. i’m not on my own.”
the 12-week pilot project, called a pathway to recovery, offers 48 private rooms to men and women experiencing homelessness after discharge from the jewish general hospital and montreal general hospital, as well as people referred by intervention teams that work with the unhoused across the island.
mclean was a court bailiff before quitting his job to care for his ailing mother. he has experienced bouts of homelessness in the decade since she passed away and his life unravelled. he had been sharing a downtown apartment after a quadruple heart bypass and other surgeries in the past 18 months, but his roommate died at home and then the building was destroyed in a fire last year. he has been without an address since then.
leo mclean chats with isabel gervais, a senior adviser for social exclusion prevention for the ymcas of quebec, in the doorway of his room in a tupper st. building managed by the ymca. so far, 42 residents are staying in the building’s transitional housing units. six are about to sign leases for their own apartments.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
a pathway to recovery was the brainchild of the mental health and addiction department of the ciusss du centre-ouest-de-l’île-de-montréal, which rapidly mobilized with the ymca in december when one-time provincial funding became available for projects that would help unhoused people get through this winter.
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“we saw an opportunity to provide a space that wasn’t just to warm up (or) just an emergency space,” marcel landry, assistant to the director of the mental health and addiction department of the west-central ciusss, said during a tour of the tupper building with representatives of the ymca last week. the project was inspired by edmonton’s bridge healing program, he added.
the 2022 count of the unhoused population led by the ciusss du centre-sud-de-l’île-de-montréal found 4,690 people were experiencing visible homelessness across the island of montreal, one-third more than in 2018. groups currently estimate 5,000 to 6,000 people are experiencing visible homelessness on the island.
the rise in the unhoused population is evident in montreal hospitals. the jewish general says its er saw 339 unhoused people in 2024-25, more than double the 149 it saw in 2022-23.
unhoused people aren’t causing er overcrowding, landry cautioned. but being able to redirect anyone who is sick but not an emergency case would help to lessen it, he said. and so having a transitional residence like tupper, which is unique because it links community services and the health and social services network, can help avoid repeat er visits for people who are unhoused and would benefit from home care and followups, he said.
the tupper building, which can accommodate couples, has an on-site nurse and social worker. visiting teams provide followup care, psychosocial services and accompaniment to off-site appointments. they also provide assistance to people, like mclean, who are ready to find permanent housing.
so far, 42 residents are staying at tupper. six are about to sign apartment leases, landry said. one other resident, who would have been discharged from a hospital er to the street without the pilot project, has started a job and is now thinking about permanent housing, he added.
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“we’re realistic that in 12 weeks, we can’t solve everything,” landry said. but the support helps get people thinking and working on what comes next for them, he said.
it’s a place for people to “reconnect to society,” landry said. “they don’t have to spend their day wondering where they will sleep tonight or where they’ll eat.”
isabel gervais, a senior adviser for social exclusion prevention for the ymcas of quebec, said residents are “reconnecting with themselves” as well. “a lot of people are reconnecting with their passions, things they love. we have someone who is rediscovering drawing. he’s finding it really helpful to process his emotions.”
the project targets a 45-day stay, but that depends on the person.
isabel gervais, a senior adviser for social exclusion prevention for the ymcas of quebec, says there is already buzz about the pilot project’s benefits. “we have a proof of concept,” says gervais, with benjamin brandelet, left, director of housing and food services for the ymcas of quebec, and marcel landry, assistant to the director of the mental health and addiction department of the west-central ciusss.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
mclean’s eyes teared up and his voice became a whisper as he described ending up at tupper “through the grace of god.” he credits jean-luc, a nurse, and leora, a social worker, both of whom are part of the connexion intervention team of the west-central ciusss, for arranging for him to get into the building in january.
“i appreciate this because i have my four walls. i have my own toilet,” mclean said. having his own key again, this one to his room, means a lot, he added.
“i’m old and irish. respect is earned,” mclean said, struggling to speak.
“but these guys from day 1, they respect me. and that’s so appreciated.”
cally ravn, a social worker who acts as an addictions and homelessness liaison at the jewish general, has directed some unhoused patients to tupper.
“the candidates that are really good for tupper are people who are super autonomous and just need a place that’s theirs to give them that peace so they can take care of the administrative stuff that starts to fall when you’re in survival mode all the time,” she said.
“a lot of times as a social worker, you talk to people who are like, ‘i want to get my shit together. i can’t. all i do is wait in line all day. and every time i start to get a leg up on things, somebody steals all my stuff.'”
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it takes a long time for wounds to heal on the street because of the daily challenges, ravn said.
“you’re wearing a pair of donated shoes that are wet all the time and it’s winter,” she said. “so now you’re walking everywhere you need to go, you have these gross wounds on your feet. maybe you or i would wear a different pair of shoes and have a nice blister band-aid on. but they keep walking because they have no choice. and now they have a wound and they’re like, ‘ok, another thing to add to the list.'”
“i appreciate this because i have my four walls. i have my own toilet,” said leo mclean, a participant in the pathway to recovery pilot project for people experiencing homelessness who were discharged from the jewish general hospital and montreal general hospital. having his own key again, this one to his room, means a lot, he added.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
the pilot project will be formally evaluated after it ends on march 31. however, the ymca’s gervais said there is already buzz about its benefits.
“we have a proof of concept with this pilot project,” she said.
“it’s important that we did it and now we know it works.”
however, where and how and what budget are question marks. the tupper building’s long-term vocation is to house asylum seekers under a federal program, and it became available to the pilot project only because of a drop in those numbers. its vocation could be reactivated on 45 days’ notice if the number of asylum seekers surges.
in the meantime, mclean said he’s looking forward to visiting apartments before march 31.
“not every landlord is interested in renting to a welfare bum,” he said. but anything beats living on the street, he said.
“at times it’s very lonely out there,” mclean said.
“it’s tiring, it’s stressful and honestly, at times it really pisses me off.”
leo mclean says he’s looking forward to visiting apartments before the tupper st. pilot project ends on march 31.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
correction: an earlier version of this story attributed the 2022 count of the unhoused population to centraide. it was co-ordinated by the ciusss du centre-sud-de-l’Île-de-montréal. and the atwater ave. building being used in the pilot project is managed by the ymca, not owned by it. the gazette regrets the errors.
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