Last night I went to a concert (Youth Group and Death Cab For Cutie) at the Spectrum, on Ste Catherine, between Bleury and Jeanne-Mance. It was great, both bands gave an awesome performance. I came out of there really energized although I was so tired…! Then I walked towards the metro. There was a homeless man sleeping in a little porch, using an umbrella to cover his head from the rain, all snuggled up in his sleeping bag. He had his few belongings in a plastic bag near him. It makes me sad to see homeless people, especially when it gets cold outside like now. I come from a little isolated village where people help each other out and everyone has a place to call home (as modest as it may be). So the homeless in the city is something relatively new to me. So it made me wonder… How many people in Montreal are homeless? Where can they go to get access to different ressources?

I found an article from The Gazette that says according to the latest government estimates about 28 000 people are homeless in Montreal! That sounds like awful lots of people to me!! The article also tells us the stories of 5 homeless people and how they ended up living on the Montreal streets, which include alchoolism, loosing a job, health problems and depression. There seems to be many reasons one ends up on the street and it’s not always about drugs or being an addict.

So back to that man… Why was he sleeping outside? I know there are some shelters in Montreal, including the Stella emergency shelter for homeless women, Mission Old Brewery, etc. Why wasn’t he there in the warmth? Instead of outside in the rain? Was it because they were full? Or because he simply didn’t want to go there? I guess I will never know…

There are also some homeless people in my neighbourhood. I often see one man around the Pharmaprix on the corner of C