City land along 41st Street: Residents are concerned about a homeless woman who has settled there

Residents of the Lerette neighborhood are concerned: in recent days a person has taken up residence in one of Quebec City’s vacant lots, along Route 41.^H Street as winter approaches.

“It’s cold at night at this time of year and this woman needs help. We can’t let her sleep like this, on a small mattress in the wind, something bad will happen to her,” says Jacinth, a retired secretary who lives nearby.

A woman resides on one of Quebec City’s vacant lots along 41st Street. Residents who gathered on November 14, 2023 are concerned about her fate as winter approaches.

Vincent Debians

The temporary shelter consists of a few chairs, a large blue tarp attached to the only trees on the site of Hydro-Québec’s former overhead lines, and a small makeshift bed made from pieces of padded carpet.

When you pass NewspaperThere was fresh food, indicating that someone actually lived there. Despite numerous attempts, it was not possible to talk to the woman who was in a precarious situation.

A woman resides on one of the vacant lots on Quebec City’s 41st Street. Fresh food was on a makeshift plate as the magazine passed. Photo by Le Journal de Quebec Vincent Debian

Vincent Debians

Kindness

A local resident photographed the woman because he was “concerned for her safety.” The footage shows the girl searching through a bag while sitting on a chair in the middle of the temporary camp on a rainy day.

Other citizens went to drop off food at the location where the person, who appeared to be homeless, had spent several nights over the past week.

Police from the mental health unit of the Quebec City Police Department left a written notice for the building’s occupant. The document stipulates that the camp must be dismantled, in accordance with municipal regulations.

Photo by Le Journal du Québec by Jean-François Racine

“We will come back […] Over the next few days in order to meet you and provide you with the necessary assistance […] To help you find [un] Housing or [pour vos] Other needs”, we can read there.

More and more widespread

Maizeres-Leret city councilor and Quebec City’s official opposition leader, Claude Villeneuve, is concerned about seeing homelessness “extending more and more beyond the city center.”

“There is an increasing concentration in central neighborhoods and people experiencing homelessness are moving to the suburbs to get more peace of mind. […] We are seeing more and more of them, in Beauporte, Maizeret, and Leret, among other places.

In recent years, Mr. Villeneuve himself noticed that a “camp” was forming in the wooded area separating the two neighborhoods in his district, near Avenue Henri Bourassa.

“We must prevent seeing this from becoming a habit. Not because they pose a danger to citizens, but because these people also have the right to dignity.”