2024-03-03 23:08:13
In the midst of a housing crisis, the Jacques-Cartier community center in Quebec City allows young adults living with various difficulties to have a roof over their heads, but also resources to take charge of their lives.
This is the case of Maxime Leclerc, whose life journey was strewn with pitfalls before his arrival at the center in 2018.
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“I wasn’t doing very well. I was in serious depression. I was looking for myself a little. When I arrived here, I didn’t really have any friends in Quebec, I didn’t really have a social circle […] I have neighbors here who have become my best friends,” he says.
The center has 27 community housing units which are offered to tenants aged 18 to 35.
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They can live there for a period of up to six years, while they stabilize.
On site, staff support residents in their development. Thanks to this support, Maxime was able to receive his diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and be equipped accordingly.
“They helped me take my steps, because here, it is by and for young people – what they call the power to act – They helped me, but they did not did not do it for me,” he explains.
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In addition to being a place of accommodation, the community center offers various workshops to showcase the talents of all residents.
“We still have different training courses that allow young people to better discover themselves,” explains the general coordinator of the center, Édith Vallières.
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After having benefited from all these services over the last six years, Maxime Leclerc is preparing to stand on his own two feet and leave the place in which he has evolved so much.
“If I compare to six years ago and today, there is a giant step forward that has been made,” he says.
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