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Who we are
Ricochet (Hébergement/Homes) is the only organization to offer housing and support solutions to people experiencing residential instability in the West Island of Montreal. Created in 2017, Ricochet responds daily to ensure the well-being of vulnerable people throughout the area.
Ricochet accommodates people aged 18 and over who suffer from residential instability and offers emergency services, transitional housing, a shuttle and social mediation, all while raising public awareness of respect for vulnerable people.
Mission
Ricochet is committed to developing and offering housing and support solutions for people experiencing residential instability in the West Island and surrounding areas.
Vision
Ricochet is committed to creating a safe and supportive community. We weave a social net that enables everyone to develop their potential and improve their quality of life.
Objectives
1
To establish, operate and maintain one or more housing projects, including a residential center, for low- and moderate-income beneficiaries in order to promote their social reintegration.
2
To offer residential units for rent to beneficiaries with low or modest incomes.
3
To treat and prevent the conditions from which beneficiaries suffer, and to promote their social integration by supporting them in a process of empowerment, and by providing personalized psychosocial support, a referral and accompaniment service. In addition, to provide the basic essentials of life such as food, furniture and clothing, to restart their new independent life.
Why the West Island?
A variety of approaches are used to meet the challenges of homelessness and residential instability, including outreach street work, day centers, temporary emergency housing, social housing with or without community support. Whether transitional or permanent, mobile intervention services, accompaniment in residential stability, rent supplement programs, etc.
While these services are available in downtown Montreal, outlying areas such as the East, North and West suffer from a lack of resources adapted to meet the needs of local vulnerable populations. Ricochet's objective is to put in place a continuum of services to fill this gap.
Ricochet's values
At Ricochet, we are committed to embodying fundamental values that guide our every action.
Integrity
We act with transparency, honesty and respect, remaining true to our values and those of others.
Determination
We are committed and determined to develop solutions to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people and the community as a whole.
Solidarity
We work as a team, and with our partners on behalf of all members of our community, to achieve our vision.
Inclusion
We adapt to the diversity of the people we serve, and welcome them openly, authentically and neutrally as they are, with dignity. We are non-judgmental and respect confidentiality.
Goodwill
Our actions are always guided by kindness, tolerance and compassion.
Our story
Ricochet is a project born of the desire of Action Jeunesse de l'Ouest-de-l'Île (AJOI) to create a resource to meet the needs of people who find themselves in a precarious housing situation or who are at risk of becoming so in the West Island (WI).
2010
2012
2013
2016
2017
2019
2020
2021
2022
In 2010, AJOI's employees began documenting the problem of homelessness in the area. As a result, hundreds of people are living in unstable conditions every year in the WI.
In 2012, AJOI noted that the lack of housing resources in the WI of Montreal had become a persistent problem for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
In 2013, AJOI partnered with the City of Montreal and the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) to conduct a study on the issue of homelessness and lack of adequate housing in the WI: The phenomenon of precarious housing among young adults in the West Island of Montreal. This study highlights hidden homelessness as a preoccupying issue in the WI and recommends the development of an emergency housing resource.
An opportunity study was carried out in 2016, thanks to the support of PME MTL Ouest-de-l'Île. This study assesses the feasibility of a social economy project including a shelter-type resource in the WI. AJOI raises funds and creates the AJOIH component (“H” for “housing”).
On August 29, 2017, AJOIH becomes Ricochet (Hébergement/Homes) and obtains its letters patent.
Ricochet begins a partnership with Centre Bienvenue to develop transitional social housing with community support.
In 2019, Ricochet is officially recognized as a charitable organization by the Canada Revenue Agency.
In the fall of 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ricochet was approached by the Service régional en itinérance of CIUSSS Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, regarding the possibility of developing an emergency shelter in the WI territory. This is how we came to develop the first emergency overnight shelter for homeless adults in the WI. The West Island's Halte-Chaleur will open on December 19, 2020. We are also developing a shuttle service.
The Halte-Chaleur becomes the Halte-Transition in summer 2021.
In addition to housing services, Ricochet develops a residential stability program with accompaniment, as well as a social mediation program, covering the boroughs of Lachine and Pierrefonds-Roxboro, in collaboration with the Comité d'action en sécurité urbaine de l'arrondissement Lachine (CASUAL).
On January 26, 2022, Ricochet opened a second temporary winter shelter, the Halte-Chaleur of Lachine. Together, the two lodging resources (Halte-Transition and Halte-Chaleur of Lachine) welcome an average of 50 people per night, and up to 65 during the coldest weather.
The Halte-Chaleur of Lachine will close its doors on June 30, 2022.
On September 12, 2022, Ricochet underwent a facelift and the Halte-Transition became the Ricochet Center. The organization's structure and services changed. Open 24/7, the Ricochet Center offers emergency services and a social reintegration program with accommodation to approximately 50 people a day.