Posted: Jun 05, 2021 5:00 AM ET | Last Updated: June 5
Roger Gobeil, Programme Bienvenue client, is seen across the street from Hotel Place Dupuis, a temporary overflow shelter for Montrealers experiencing homelessness.(Matt D'Amours/CBC)
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Roger Gobeil spends the afternoon at Place Émilie-Gamelin in downtown Montreal, the day before he moves into his new home. This was the same spot where a stranger approached him two months ago, and asked if he was OK.
Gobeil wasn't OK.
It was the start of Quebec's third wave, and he had just been evicted from his apartment. Sick with emphysema, a lung condition, depressed and unsure of what to do, he wound up outside the Berri-UQAM Metro station — a known gathering place for people experiencing homelessness.