Welcome Hall Mission announces program to help homeless women

The PRISM program will be located on the 2nd floor at 4755 Acorn St. in St-Henri (image: Google Street View)

The Welcome Hall Mission is announcing a new program to help homeless women in Montreal.

Called the Reaffiliation Program for Homelessness and Mental Health, or PRISM, the program will be geared towards homeless women dealing with mental health issues.

“The fact that homelessness has increased in Montreal — we all acknowledge that — is concerning,” said Sam Watts, president and CEO of the Welcome Hall Mission, at the announcement on Monday. “Another concern is that there are so many women finding themselves on the outside. That’s something we’re working with our partners to try to fix. And we need to do it faster.”

PRISM is a Welcome Hall initiative in collaboration with the Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montreal regional health board. It mainly serves people who have psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, providing them with rapid access to a therapeutic transitional environment

Located on Acorn St. in St-Henri, the program offers eight rooms for people to live in, with access to therapy, psychosocial support, and support to transition into stable housing.

“We need to invest more. We need to make sure that every woman is able to have the services available to them and if other regions want to provide specific services for women, I’m open to that as well,” said Quebec Public Services Minister Lionel Carmant, on hand for the announcement.