Inside the Quebec YMCA that provides temporary housing for homeless people after a hospital stay
Darin Luckie said it was a combination of drugs, alcohol and the COVID-19 pandemic that led to his life falling apart, and he found himself homeless in Montreal.
“I expected to recover in a few months. A few months turned into a year. And a year turned into four,” he said. “Then you’re like, ‘It’s 30 outside and I don’t want to do this anymore,'” she said.
A Montreal health center has now partnered with the YMCA to launch a three-month housing pilot project that helps people like Luckie – providing a safe, private room alternative for homeless people after being released from hospital.
People experiencing homelessness to recover from illness or injury when they are discharged from emergency services, said Catherine Roberge, chief of program management, addiction and homelessness with CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
“There are a lot of people who don’t have an address who will want to be taken care of and come back to the ER regularly,” she said.
In a news release, CIUSSS calls the program the “Recovery Pathway.” Located in the Tupper YMCA complex, which previously housed hundreds of asylum seekers, the project offers 48 private rooms – including couples’ units – for patients discharged from Jewish General Hospital or Montreal General Hospital.
But the liaison team is contacting patients from other hospitals and officials who want to fill the vacancy as soon as the program, which was launched in mid-January, gets underway, Roberge said, noting that it will help ease the burden on hospitals and patients.
“There’s a lot of turnover between ERs,” she said. “A simple wound, while dealing with homelessness at the same time, can be very difficult to recover from.”
A new pilot project at the Tupper YMCA in Westmount, Que., aims to fundamentally change what happens when homeless patients are discharged from the hospital by providing them with temporary housing.
Often in those cases, hospitals will push for a long stay or even a long-term care home for recovery that isn’t ideal for the younger patient, he explained.
But in this new space, patients will have more autonomy, he said. They are linked to clinical services, case management and housing support. They can go to CLSC for follow-up care and return to their private room, she said.
The increase in homeless patients
Priority is currently given to referrals from the Jewish General, where the number of patients experiencing homelessness has increased from 149 in 2022-23 to 339 in 2024-25, CIUSSS said.
The site is currently 58 percent occupied. The YMCA manages the building and the mental health team, while the CIUSSS provides on-site nurses, social workers and addiction liaison workers.
Roberge said the goal is to provide care for those with substance abuse, dementia symptoms, mental illness, mobility issues and other issues.
“It’s very different,” he said, noting that they provide three meals a day and case workers to help find housing. “Some are very serious about looking for houses.”
Unlike traditional dormitory-style shelters, this model provides embedded clinical teams integrated with hospital systems and allows for stays of up to 45 days — longer than most winter shelters.
The pilot was made possible due to a temporary drop in demand for housing for asylum seekers, although the site retains the capacity to refurbish beds as part of the immigration scheme, Regional system of accueil et d’intégration des demandeurs d’asile (PRAIDA), within 45 days if necessary, said health officials.
Once completed, the project will be officially evaluated based on various criteria such as reduction of emergency department visits within 45 days and user satisfaction, the press release said.
‘We are treated like rats’
Regarding Luckye, who has been living on the streets since August 2022, he said it was difficult, despite efforts such as rehabilitation, to get back on track.
“We are treated like rats. We cannot make money. We are stuck in a cycle,” he said. “They treat us like villains, but where do you want us to go?”
Looking ahead, he wants to break the cycle and have a key to his house so he can get a phone and a job.
“Everyone says get a job, but you need a phone first,” said Luckie. “You can’t go to work wearing the same clothes all week.”
Staying at A Pathway to Recovery helped, he said.
“I shower, I shave, I take care of myself,” said Luckie. “I buy clothes. I buy a tablet. I can go to my room and know my tablet is safe. That’s a big thing.”
