The Canadian Red Cross works primarily in North America, although it is also helping colleagues in Latin America to develop their national organisations. A housing shortage in the rental sector has become an annual crisis for the people of Quebec, and the director of programmes, Josée Payant, told AlertNet how her organisation kept hundreds of homeless families from having to live on the streets.

AN: What work does the Canadian Red Cross do abroad?

JP: We have a programme to help develop the Red Cross in Nicaragua and Colombia. We also send volunteers to Red Cross in the United States of America. It is a great learning experience for them. Following the September 11 tragedy we sent people from Canada to support their American counterparts.

AN: What is the biggest crisis that the Canadian Red Cross has to deal with at the moment?

JP: This year we have had a major housing crisis in three cities across Quebec province. In Quebec it is traditional for people to move home on July 1. This year 400 families didn’t have a place to stay on July 1. The Red Cross has an agreement to help the city authorities provide housing. They open the shelters and we provide the materials. We manage the emergency beds, hygiene units and blankets. We also register all the people who are going to stay in the shelters.

AN: How did this housing crisis occur?

JP: In Montreal only 0.6 percent of the housing is available for rent. I do not know why it is like this. People normally tell their landlords they are moving out of their property at the end of March, but it can be difficult to find a new home to move to by June. Because there is such a low amount of property to rent the landlords can be more choosy and demanding. The people we helped this year were mostly vulnerable. They have psychological problems, are on welfare or have no relatives to support them. Half of them went to relatives, the other half went to shelters. We use high schools, universities, gymnasiums and temporary hotel accommodation to put them up in. The city authorities are in charge of helping people find apartments and homes to stay in. The Red Cross only registers the residents, provides food and bedding in the shelter and keeps them informed of when city officials are coming to help them. The provincial government provides some money to cover the costs of the operation.

AN: How widespread is the housing crisis?

JP: There were nine cities in Quebec affected by the crisis. Only four of them asked for our help. The three worst affected were Quebec City, Montreal and Laval. During the crisis we had 131 volunteers and 11 paid staff working to help out. Between June 28 and July 12 they spent 3,300 hours working with the affected people. By the end everyone had been found housing or temporary accommodation.

AN: Does this crisis happen every year?

JP: No. It is a recent phenomenon. It is only the second time it has happened. Two years ago there was a little problem but not that bad. Last year the problem was bigger but we weren’t involved at all. People didn’t think it would be that big and no shelters were opened. This year there was a lot of preparation by the affected cities because they knew it would be worse. Mayors and the provincial government got involved in highlighting the problem and trying to find solutions. And people were found houses through the media as well. The Red Cross is learning from this year’s experience. We are not expecting it to get worse next year but of course we will be ready if it does get worse. Volunteers are always trained and ready to do the job.

AN: How many volunteers do you have and what other work do they do?

JP: There are 10,000 Canadian Red Cross volunteers across Quebec and 80 paid staff. The Disaster Services Programme is our main activity in Canada. Every week we are getting calls for help following fires and floods. We used to collect blood but we don’t do that any more. Now we do a lot of training in water safety and first aid. We also have RespectED a programme to bring an end to child abuse.

AN: What are the backgrounds of your voluntary staff?

JP: A lot of our volunteers who work on the disaster front line are fire fighters, policemen or health workers. We don’t often have a shortage but it can sometimes be difficult to find well trained volunteers. When there is a disaster there’s often more than we need but we have to have the right kind of person to manage the job. Disasters don’t happen on a 9 to 5 basis. When the housing crisis happened there was a long weekend. A lot of people were away on holiday or not available. When we call on them it is really impressive to see all these people coming together to help out others for no gain at all.

AN: How did you get involved with the Red Cross?

JP: I left college 22 years ago with a masters in adult education and I took a job with the Red Cross. At first it was a great way to get experience. I taught about the environment and humanitarian aid. Since then I have done many jobs within the Red Cross. But it is not just a job, you have to really believe in what you do. We have seven principles that guide our every decision. To give the best service we can to everyone who needs us the Red Cross has to be impartial, neutral, independent and unified. I feel like I am doing useful things for humanity. We work with a wide range of people from volunteers to refugees. Not only do I like what I do but I also like the Red Cross organisation.