Planned group home raises concerns

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

While attitudes toward a planned group home on Jeffrey Street in Dollard des Ormeaux may change following last night’s information session at city hall, citizens living near the site walked into the meeting with many concerns on their minds.

“There are a lot of ‘what ifs,’” said Jeffrey Street resident Stephane Malo. After receiving a city letter about the planned rehabilitation centre for adults with developmental problems on Thursday, Malo said neighbours on his street, as well as on Sommerhill and Leslie Streets, have been talking about the project non-stop.

Property value decreases, other group homes, such as drug rehabilitation centres, opening in the area, and the overall quality of life and neighbourhood atmosphere are at the centre of the residents’ worries, Malo said.

“Everybody’s concern is, when one opens like this, what comes next?” Malo questioned. “I’m paying my taxes. I moved here because of the neighbourhood. It’s a very friendly neighbourhood and everyone talks to each other. Why does the city accept this in a residential area? Why not put it up on somewhere like Gouin (Boulevard)?”

Dollard Mayor Ed Janiszewski could not elaborate on exactly who and how many people would be moving into the rehabilitation centre on Jeffrey prior to last night’s meeting, but said the city could not do anything to block the group home, even if it wanted to: there is no zoning change required as there will most likely be six or fewer people moving into the private residence. Janiszewski also said the agreement is between the homeowner and the health care institution, and not the city.

“We can’t tell people who they can have in their home and who they can’t,” Janiszewski said.

Francine Giroux, the director of mental health services at the West Island Health and Social Services Centre (HSSC), said Dollard residents should not worry about the impact the group home will have on their neighbourhood.

“Dangerous clients are hospitalized,” she said, adding when people hear expressions like ‘developmental problems,’ they tend to think of movies like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and other over-mediatised representations. “A lot of people are stuck with these ideas. I think it’s much more the unknown. Without you ever knowing, your neighbour may have been in one of these homes at one time of their life, and they seem completely normal.”

Giroux said locating such homes in residential areas is actually part of the patients’ rehabilitation process, because it allows them to “partake in a citizen life.”

“In the past, we used to hide them in the asylums,” Giroux said. “Now, everybody has a chance.”

Janiszewski said he hopes yesterday’s meeting, which was attended by a social worker from the Lakeshore General Hospital, answered a lot of questions the residents had.

“This is a normal situation. It’s partly fear and partly ‘preferably not in my backyard.’ There are several group homes in Dollard, and in most cases it turns out very well,” he said. “We want to give them all an opportunity to get all the information and hear from a qualified medical person.”

But residents like Malo believe the city should pay more attention to their opinions.

“This is causing stress in the community,” he said on Monday afternoon. “Where do we have a say? We’d like to have a vote on this.”