CTV News hops aboard bus with Montreal’s homeless

The Old Brewery Mission operates a shuttle bus that makes the rounds 7 days a week, picking up anyone experiencing homelessness and taking them where they want.

The Old Brewery Mission operates a shuttle bus that makes the rounds seven days a week, picking up anyone experiencing homelessness and taking them to where they want to go from 4:30 p.m. to midnight.

CTV News joined the route Thursday night along with Old Brewery Mission outreach workers Sasha Desrouleaux and Yolette Jean.

Every night they say they answer about 30 calls for transport. That’s double compared to last year.

“We’re really overwhelmed, I think. And I think we get a lot of more calls in the winter than the summertime,” said Desrouleaux.

The first stop on this particular night was the Hôtel-Dieu shelter. The shuttle was dropping off one client and picking up another.

Some people on the bus already have a designated spot in the system, and they are simply being moved from one shelter to another.

That is the case for Martin Letourneau. Originally from Quebec City, he is going to the Old Brewery Mission. The former real estate agent is experiencing homelessness for the first time.

He said, “it started with a separation, then depression.”

This is his second time using the shuttle service and he’s grateful for it.

Letourneau got emotional speaking about it, while trying to hold back tears he said everything the Old Brewery Mission does is “incredible.”

The shuttle also transports people to emergency shelters. Outreach workers use a dispatch platform to see if any spaces are available.

“We have a list of resources and shelters, and we call them at least three times a day so they can give us an update on any place there are available in those shelters. And unfortunately, most of the time, they say that they don’t have any place,” said Desrouleaux.

Jean has been an outreach worker for almost nine years. She says the most difficult part of the job is when she can’t find a place for someone to sleep.

On Thursday night, there were just two overnight spots available. Those spots weren’t beds, but metal chairs. Something shelters have resorted to, to accommodate more people.

Part of Jean’s nightly route includes checking on people inside the metro.

The were roughly 30 people at Bonaventure metro. While outreach workers offered them a ride to a shelter, no one wanted to sleep on a chair.

One man in his sixties said he can’t sleep sitting, so he chose to stay inside the metro.

“They’re trying like with the temporary shelters. But it’s not enough,” said Desrouleaux.

Outreach workers say they do what they can to help people like Letourneau. And with their help, he is about to start a new job, and says he finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel.