New respite rooms at Maison sous les arbres
Left, the newly expanded Maison sous les arbres. (Photo: Le Soleil - Valérie Lessard)
La Maison sous les arbres suicide prevention and crisis center in Châteauguay has expanded from five to nine rooms to be able to accommodate people in distress, significantly reducing the number people who have to be turned away by the organization each year.
Translation Amanda Bennett
On September 26, La Maison sous les arbres opened its doors to the public and partner organizations to present the results of its expansion project of the century-old green-roofed house at the intersection of Salaberry and D'Anjou boulevards in Châteauguay.
The million-dollar project took just over a year to complete, and services were maintained throughout," explained Roxanne Thibeault, the organization's Director, with pride. She also praised the professionalism of construction contractor Martin Desgroseillers. "You have shown understanding, respect and kindness towards our caregivers and our clientele," she said just before the official ribbon-cutting.
The organization benefited from approximately $160,000 in donations. The remainder of the budget was financed internally. The nine rooms have been accessible since June, and La Maison sous les arbres is already seeing a difference. "At 9 beds, refusals are becoming rarer and rarer," pointed out Ms. Thibeault, whereas before the renovations, the crisis center had to manage between 100 and 130 refusals a year.
A new room. (Photo : Le Soleil - Ali Dostie)
"Imagine 130 times when we had to refuse accommodation or find another solution because we didn't have enough beds," she recalled. In fact, all the rooms were occupied on the day of the open house.
La Maison sous les arbres also took advantage of the extension to create a room and kitchenette that’s accessible to people with reduced mobility, which was not the case before as all the rooms were on the second floor. The kitchen was also enlarged, and staff offices were added. La Maison sous les arbres services are free, bilingual and confidential.
They can be reached 24/7 at 1-855-450-699-5935.