The Maison d’Hébergement Dépannage de Valleyfield (MHDV) inaugurated its newly purchased and renovated location for its day shelter on rue Ellice in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield on December 12.
The emergency shelter provides an essential service for vulnerable populations including those experiencing homelessness in the Beauharnois-Salaberry, Vaudreuil-Soulanges and Haut-Saint-Laurent regions.
The organization’s drop-in services have been open year-round since November 2023. The new centre will allow the organization to respond to growing demand in the region. The original drop-in centre was launched as a temporary initiative in a bus; however, the scale of the demand required the organization pivot quickly to develop a permanent, year-round service in a rented space.
With the financial support of several partners, the MHDV was able to purchase the building that will house the shelter, allowing the organization to offer a stable and sustainable service.
The building has two units. The MHDV began welcoming users to one of the units as of December 15 while renovations are completed on the second unit, which will become the shelter’s permanent home come spring.
Several partners contributed financially to the purchase of the building and the necessary renovations, including the Fondation Baie-Saint-François ($350,000), the city of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield ($60,000), The Caise Desjardins de Salaberry-de-Valleyfield ($50,000), the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Rotary Club ($10,000), and IKEA ($3,230), which outfitted the shelter with chairs and other furniture.
“We simply cannot do without this service. Needs are increasing, situations are becoming more complex, and the centre provides a humane, safe, and accessible space to meet basic needs that are too often invisible,” said MHDV director Marilou Carrier.
In November alone, more than 170 different people made use of the shelter. A psychosocial intervention team welcomes, listens and responds to essential needs, appropriately refers individuals to different services, and provides a safe and welcoming space. Several partner organizations offer complementary services at the centre as well.
Carrier highlighted the important role of numerous organizations and businesses in maintaining the shelter’s operations, including the mental health and addiction teams at the Centre Intégré de Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest, Pacte de Rue, l’Aiguillage, le Centre du Partage, ITMAV, la Clinique Repère, La Baraque, Moisson Sud-Ouest, IGA Famille Vincent, and Pharmaprix.
Carrier noted that despite the shelter’s vital role within the regional community, the project lacks recurring funding, which has led to a significant deficit for the organization. “We are proud of the work accomplished and the solidarity of the partners who made it possible to purchase the building, but the continuation of the service now depends on adequate funding,” she said, before calling on all levels of government to work together to support a service “that changes lives every day.”
The launch was attended by MHDV president Émile Duhamel and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield mayor Miguel Lemieux; the president of the Fondation Baie-Saint-François, Yves McSween; and representatives for Beauharnois-Salaberry-Soulanges-Huntingdon MP Claude DeBellefeuille, Beauharnois MNA Claude Reid, the CISSSMO, and Desjardins.
Carrier thanked the partners for their collaboration and trust. “You enable us to move forward, to build and improve our communities, and to offer humane and tailored services to those who need them most,” she said, before also acknowledging the essential work of the MHDV’s team of employees.