Marianne Chouinard, Executive Director of Need Help 24/7, flanked by two important partners in the regional crisis center project, the prefect of the MRC de La Vallée-de-l 'Or, Martin Ferron, and the MP for Abitibi-Est, Pierre Dufour.
Tuesday was a big day for Need Help 24/7, which broke ground in the construction of a first regional crisis center in Malartic.
The 5,000 square foot building was erected on Pépito Street by Construction Benoit Doyon, according to plans by the architecture firm TRAME and with the support of the Technical Resources Group. This is an investment of nearly $3 million, two-thirds of which comes from the Quebec government. Several regional and local partners are also taking part in the project.
It's a great relief. If we had seen the magnitude of the task at the start, I'm not sure we would have made this decision. But we got there, years later, with a sum of almost 3 million dollars raised knowing that it continues, that there is a structure that has been put in place. It really is a moment when we feel like celebrating, says Marianne Chouinard, Executive Director of Need Help 24/7.
From the beginning of 2024, the new crisis centre, the 21st in Quebec, will provide safe accommodation for people with suicidal thoughts or in a crisis situation. On site, they will benefit from a downtime by being accompanied by mental health professionals to help them recover at the psychosocial level before returning home.
“It's really to make sure that the suicidal potential is reduced greatly, but also that the person has new strategies to deal with a situation similar to the one that brought them here.
— Marianne Chouinard
We also took the opportunity to unveil the work of artist Claudia Caron. L'Amossoise won a competition to find a work to brighten up the Malartic crisis center
Need help 24/7 also unveiled the regional structure for offering crisis services, which it is developing in collaboration with the Integrated Health and Social Services Center of Abitibi-Témiscamingue (CISSS-AT).< /p>
Rouyn-Noranda city councilor Sylvie Turgeon presented her city's participation in hosting a second crisis center in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, to serve the western part of the region.
24/7 crisis accommodation beds, called satellite beds, have also been set up in the past year at the Accueil d'Amos, at the Trait d'Union de La Sarre and at the Maison les 4 saisons de Ville. -Marie to bring emergency services closer. The organization is still looking for a place in Val-d'Or.
Having two poles, I think is ideal. The region is quite large, we want to avoid travel to users as much as possible. These are in addition to satellite beds that we have had the opportunity to open in RCMs that are further away. The combination of the two will really allow us to respond adequately to the needs of the population, believes Mylène Gauthier, director of multidisciplinary services at the CISSS-AT.
This strategy is part of the desire of the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, to reduce the suicide rate in Quebec by 10% by 2026.
