Every year, cold waves affect the lives of the city’s vulnerable people. The cold can keep some people in precarious situations, can endanger the lives of others. In particular, these freezing temperatures increase heating costs that people living in poverty can rarely afford. It also increases the number of residential fires in Montreal. To combat the cold, Sun Youth and its partners offer several services (heating assistance, assistance to disaster victims, access to medication, home deliveries). The goal is to minimize the harmful effects of extreme temperatures on the cities most at-risk populations.
Sun Youth offers several services, including the delivery of heating oil for people whose tank is empty. Thanks to our collaboration with oil companies. We help people negotiate their payment agreements with Hydro-Quebec. We also collaborate with Éconologis to help disadvantaged people improve their apartment’s energy efficiency. This year, with the help of the Villeray–Parc-Extension–Saint-Michel Borough and in partnership with the Pact de rue, we offer a temporary shelter (Halte-Chaleur) for homeless people for the coldest nights. Finally, our disaster assistance program collaborates with the Red Cross and the City of Montreal Fire Department. By providing free transportation, finding hotels and housing for disaster victims, the program is actively preventing homelessness in Montreal. Our food assistance and access to medication programs continue, despite COVID, and are now accessible remotely, thus avoiding the risk of hazardous travel.
Every winter Sun Youth:
- About 50 families benefit from our help to heat their homes;
- We help prevent the homelessness of more than 600 people affected by the disaster;
- We carry out more than 6,000 food security interventions;
- We offer warm clothing to about fifty children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
