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april 2008 - st-andré housing project in canada

April 2008 - The Federal Government has granted Dianova Canada 800,000 Canadian dollars for the purpose of buying and renovating a house, a modest building located in downtown Montreal on St-André Street, which will open its doors to its first tenants next fall.

Twenty single-room living units that will accommodate the homeless and those at-risk of homelessness are planned. In addition, support and follow-up services will be provided to assist tenants in stabilizing their lives and in finding permanent housing solutions.

"It has been many years now that we have been thinking about additional means of assisting the residents of the center (the Dianova center in Terrebonne in the outskirts of Montreal – ed.), so that anxieties over the need for housing at the completion of treatment will not endanger their entire program at Dianova" stated Bruno Ferrari, Dianova Canada executive director.

Dianova and Homelessness

Homeless, street people - the names may be different, but the reality is the same. Wherever we live, we are all concerned by this ever-growing phenomenon. Dianova Canada offers many persons the opportunity to overcome their homeless situations permanently.

In fact, even though Dianova's primary commitment is to addiction treatment, we also help those concerned with housing to have access to a wide range of first-line resources, thanks to numerous active partnerships with other social-service organizations.

"We deem it critical to prepare a personal reintegration plan that concretely addresses the housing issue".

Bruno Ferrari adds: "Our residential program helps people to connect with others and reconnect with themselves. For the first time in a long time, they can share with others, and they can understand their own feelings and reactions, supported by a program that trusts them and gives them meaningful responsibilities. While in the program, all of them have become accustomed to being in a safe place. This is the reason why we deem it critical to prepare a personal reintegration plan that concretely addresses the housing issue."

It is now done. The organization's annual report show a measurable increase in the number of persons having completed their treatment program and having joined a reintegration program offering supervised lodging or lodging with community support.

St-André housing is an additional asset in Dianova Canada's range of services. It is an asset which belongs to a new initiative, that of providing sustainable housing to people in their communities, with a house which will be affordable, interesting and where it will be worth living.