The day center of the Chez Doris women’s shelter, which was forced to close for two months last fall, has now put the crisis behind it. The organization will once again be open on weekends, resuming its services offered seven days a week.

This temporary closure was due in particular to increased demand among vulnerable women and mental health difficulties after the pandemic, for which employees were not sufficiently equipped.

“You cannot support a [vulnerable] person if you yourself, as an organization, your people are tired,” illustrated the organization’s general director, Diane Pilote.

Located on Chomedey Street in the Ville-Marie district, Chez Doris reopened its doors only on weekdays last December. After ten months of interruption, the shelter will also be accessible on weekends, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., starting this Saturday, June 15.

“On the weekend, women want organizations for women, and most of them are mixed,” places that they will “avoid for their safety or depending on the reality [of domestic violence] that they have experienced,” explained the one of the day center team leaders, Clémentine Mwabange.

“I think that opening on the weekend will help [the homeless and vulnerable women] more to breathe,” she estimated.

The effects of the housing crisis are also being felt at the shelter as July 1st approaches. “On Tuesday, we had two women who were evicted [from their homes],” remarked Ms. Mwabange. “It’s not even July 1st yet and we think it’s going to increase even more.”

“We sense that people are worried,” according to Ms. Pilote, who has observed an “energy of distress” and “an increase in evictions.” The organization’s night shelter, where 24 beds are available, is “full all the time” and about fifteen women are on the waiting list every night, she adds.

It’s not just the homeless who attend the Chez Doris day center. Currently, 40% of the women who go there own a home, but according to Ms. Pilote, after paying for it, they only have around $100 to $150 a month left to meet their needs.

All these women can go to the Chez Doris organization to get a meal, clothes or a shower.