Pascale
Psychosocial worker,
Social Reintegration
Maison du Père could not accomplish its important mission with homeless people without each and every employee of the department of social reintegration (RESO). They help these disaffiliated men make their contribution to society again, in a process of a gradual recovery of autonomy and longer-term reintegration, beyond emergency accommodation. To better understand the contribution of these essential employees, we met with Pascale.
Pascale is a psychosocial worker at RESO, and has a university education in psychology. After jobs in youth centers and shelters for adolescents, she landed her job at Maison du Père. Her job is full of surprises, but is also a great source of gratification.
Like her colleagues, she welcomes and accompanies men from the streets in their reintegration process. These men are sometimes referred to her by the Maison du Père welcome and accommodation for referrals center (the CAHR), and sometimes by external workers such as social workers from the health network, or by different shelters. The program is open to men 25 and over, but 50.5% of participants are 50 and over.
When entering the program, an intervention plan is established according to the individual's wishes and objectives. “There are some who are returning to the job market", she says. Some are supported in their job search. Others, for example, are integrated into a team of Maison du Père employees for a schedule of 20 paid hours per week, to re-familiarize themselves with the demands of a job.
"For some, it’s about going back to school, and for others, it’s taking back their personal health in hand... and for some, it is to reduce their consumption of drugs or alcohol", she continues. For these cases, Maison du Père offers "tools" to control addiction, and "we will aim for harm reduction. We still allow the person to consume, but without it negatively affecting their life".
The usual plan takes place over a period of 12 to 15 months during which the participant typically moves from accommodation in a dormitory, then in a bedroom, then in a studio at Maison du Père. Throughout the process, the participant is encouraged to gradually regain autonomy, until a return to autonomous accommodation. In 2019, after following the process, 81% of participants regained residential stability or were relocated to an organization better suited to their needs.
It is thus in this process that Pascale supports users. She says that this job allowed her “to see that I had more abilities than I thought.” “Thanks to the work we have done together, these men have gone further than they first thought they could.” But also, it made her see homeless men in a new light. She says: “As for me, it made me see that there are not so many differences between us."