La Maison du Père

Background of the organization:

La Maison du Père was founded over 50 years ago to serve homeless men in the City of Montreal and is the second largest homeless shelter in the city next to the Old Brewery Mission. On a daily basis, the organization supports over 500 men with a variety of services and supports. La Maison du Père serves over 2300 individuals annually. In 2013, it created an eight-bed palliative care centre for clients to provide end of life care.

Grant Description:

The Maison du Père has needed to considerably adjust its services to face the COVID-19 crisis. It had to cancel its annual April fundraising gala and significantly increase its food purchases as a result of large reductions in food donations. Its costs have spiked as they have had to compensate staff with premiums for frontline work, hire additional cleaning and security staff (due to a significant drop in volunteers), and make a one-time purchase of personal protective material for its 24/7 teams.

A grant from the Foundation will help offset the financial costs related to food purchases for the Maison du Père’s homeless clients, necessitated by the drop in donated foodstuffs.