Montreal

Ilona

(44 years old)

“I needed the chase of the dragon.”

Ilona is a former security guard, who currently lives in a shelter in Montreal, after having spent a few months on the street.  Ilona was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2010. She is also bipolar. Ilona is currently on medication, which is a great relief in her life. When she doesn’t take her medication she gets “an electrical shock kind of headache”. She self-medicated herself with pot for 25 years, but the effects wore off towards the end.

Joey

(64 years old)

“I often meet young guys, they start freaking out in November, because of the cold, and want to give their dog to a shelter, so I say give him to me and you can come pick him up when it’s warm again, but no one ever comes back for their dog. So at one point I ended up with like 7-8 dogs. Ok I thought, so what do I do now?

Joey has been on the street for 7 years.

Joey’s dog.

Joey has been on the street for 7 years. 

He used to run a moving company in Ontario. As he was driving under suspension, he was fined. He continued driving receiving more fines. As he was unable to pay, he decided to change counties, and moved to Quebec.

The fine, for driving a company car without insurance, is between 25 000 – 50 000 dollars. He was fined twice, resulting in a debt of 90 000 dollars. An amount he knew he could never pay off, so he “gave up”.

Joey’s friend with his dog.

Joey’s pitbull.

Sophia

(42 years old)

“I now carry an anger towards men, and don’t trust them anymore.”

Sophia is from South Africa, and arrived in Montreal in March 2017. She came to the country on a tourist visa. When she arrived, she had no place to go and had to stay on the street, for 4 months. She is currently applying for a refugee status, due to domestic abuse

Janet 

(61 years old)

“When you end up with no options, you create options”

Janet is currently in a shelter, after about a year on the street. When she lived on the street, she slept in toilets, restaurants and bank machines. “Bank machines are your friends when you’re homeless.”

Janet endured abuse as a child, her entire family being involved, in some way. She feels she is still recovering to this day. Janet sold her art, and sang in the subway when she was on the street. She did quite well for herself. “I think art is meant to be shared, art is meant to make someone happy.

Carlo

(55 years old)

“I started hating myself. I wanted to get help, but I don’t believe in therapy. I think it’s just bullshit”

At the age of 25 Carlo was already the owner of 2 homes. His hard work had provided him with a rather luxurious lifestyle, for someone his age. At the age of 30, he was married, had a child and projects for the future.

Jean-Guy

(51 years old)

“When people once see you as something, they will always keep that image of you.”

Jean-Guy lives in an apartment, he received through a charity. Jean-Guy was homeless for almost 24 years. He woke up one morning, with a mansion, a boat, a wife, a child and a management position and chose to leave it all.  He describes it as a metal break down.

He left everything to his wife and son. He left with 6000 dollars in his pocket. “Money has no value to me, it was like 25 cents. Money comes and money goes. There is no amount of money that could stop me from tripping.”

Cynthia

(38 years old)

“The most difficult part is the entourage. Once I start using again, everyone disappears, except for my dealers or drug friends. So you become isolated in that world.” Cynthia currently lives in a shelter for women. She was homeless for about 6 month, which ended with an overdose sending her to the hospital, where she was forced to see a psychiatrist.