Mohamed is studying mathematics and statistics at the University of Montreal. And if he is on track to graduate from high school, it is thanks to his determination, but also to the help of the Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs et Travaileuses de Montréal, which has been offering him a roof over his head for around ten months.
Previously, he lived with his family on the east side of the island of Montreal and had to travel nearly four hours a day on public transportation to get to his classes on the other side of the city. I was late for class. It was really demotivating, he explains.
Mohamed had thought about looking for a shared apartment or a place in a student dormitory. But his family had a modest income, and since he was studying full-time, he couldn't work enough to cover his living expenses.
I simply didn't have the resources. You can't afford an apartment in Montreal. The apartments are also expensive and there are waiting lists.
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Mohamed sits in his room in the foyer of the Jeunes Travailleurs et Travaileuses de Montréal, completing the work required for a course in his bachelor's degree program in mathematics and statistics.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
Through a friend, he learned of the existence of the Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs, one of the 32 member organizations of the Auberges du coeur du Québec network, which offered him a room at affordable rent. I'm really grateful to be here. “It allows me to move forward and concentrate on my studies,” he admits.
Stability to move forward: the story of Saïna
Saïna Chelsea Edmond has just started a professional diploma in accounting. She dreams of starting her own cosmetics company.
The 20-year-old young woman has a complicated and interrupted school career and a history full of pitfalls.
If she was able to find enough stability to successfully return to school, it was because Resource Jeunesse de Saint-Laurent welcomed her into its assisted living building in September.
The speakers support me every day. “They showed me that school can be an important gateway to realizing one’s dreams,” she says.
Today she is carefully planning the decoration of her first apartment, which she is very proud of.
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Saïna Chelsea Edmond is grateful to have been chosen to live in an apartment provided by the resource organization Jeunesse de Saint-Laurent.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
In addition to accommodation, which costs 25% of her income, she receives food assistance and psychosocial support if necessary. We have an intervention plan, we are monitored. Sometimes I want to let go [mes études]. But with all this help, it gives me the strength to keep going.
I'm less stressed. I manage to learn and go to school without breaking down because I have a calculation in my head.
The housing crisis has created a new clientele
The Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs de Montréal and the Jeunesse Saint-Laurent resource are two member organizations of the Auberges du coeur group, whose mission is to provide housing for young people in need and experiencing homelessness.
However, they are accepting more and more students like Mohamed and Saïna. And above all, they are receiving more and more requests of this type, not all of which can be accepted.
The source of the phenomenon? The housing crisis, the lack of affordable student housing across Quebec and the rising cost of living are weakening young people with already difficult career paths, says Sébastien Lanouette, vice-president of the organization.
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Sébastien Lanouette has been working in the municipal sector for three decades. He noted the emergence of a new phenomenon: more and more students are asking for help from shelters dedicated to young people in trouble.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Patrick André Perron
In principle, we are not a student house. But more and more young students are arriving there who develop poverty problems and come to us. All because they don't have access to housing.
We are jeopardizing their ability to continue their studies and pursue a life project that will make them more independent, he regrets.
The general director of the Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs, Aurélie Sasias, admits that last year a quarter of residents were post-secondary students. Several were foreign students or young people with a migrant background who lacked financial resources, she says.
Some young people are not fortunate enough to have parents who can pay for their education or provide them with housing. They meet at our house. I am pleased to be able to offer them [de l’aide]“But it makes me desperate,” says Ms. Sasias, discouraged.
We shouldn't have to make up for any deficits in aid [gouvernementales] to students. But we have a social calling here, so it's normal that we support it.
For them, the lack of accessibility and affordability of student accommodation is an important factor in the problem. She finds the situation disgusting and disturbing.