In my experience, the program is vast. It addresses many housing needs, from the search for housing to emergency shelters. It naturally works on a project-by-project basis.
In short, what puts organizations in a difficult spot is the late announcements. You should know that the Reaching Home program is a very important funder for people in Quebec, in addition to the Quebec government's interdepartmental action plan on homelessness, or PAII. However, the late announcement of this funding's renewal has consequences on how we manage our organization and on our staff retention. We don't know where we stand. If possible, we should get an announcement about the renewal, please, because there are pressing needs.
I would go further. In Quebec, there's the Programme de soutien aux organismes communautaires, or PSOC, which is a recurring program. In my view, given its importance, the Reaching Home program should also be a recurring program with projects every two years.
We administer non-profit organizations, but there are important management rules that apply, as in businesses. For example, managing to carry over money from one year to the next would be an invaluable gift. The executive director and the people who administer the organizations should also be allowed to have sound management. It's no good trying to scrounge up the money.
For example, money is announced in February, but we have to spend that money by March 31. Come March 31, we're going to spend it, or rather, we're going to invest, we're going to buy things, but if that funding were renewed, paid in advance from the start, it would give us more predictability.
I realized that when I was administering the Reaching Home program. Organizations were in a tough spot. For example, if they wanted to do capital work, they had to find contractors and everything, which can overlap two fiscal years. There's a rigidity that we shouldn't have anymore.
It's important to avoid late announcements, then. Funds should be set aside to give to organizations so that they can carry out their activities, rather than carry out last-minute projects by making investments before March 31, as if it were a race. We'll always find investments, but if we receive the money a bit earlier, we'll be able to do something.
The same is true for the community encampment response plan, or CERP, where shelters work closely with people in encampments. An organization like ours, La Halte du coin, offers 45 beds, and we also manage two trailers under the Jacques‑Cartier Bridge. Our organization is located next to Montreal. There's a sea of people there. You heard us when we mentioned the number of different faces we have seen. We do a lot of work regarding chronic issues.
I'm going to digress a bit. I want to add the fact that we have the unique characteristic of being a gateway. We work with other organizations on transitions as well, but also on six-month, one-year and three-year periods. In short, those are the improvements I wanted to highlight.
Naturally, I have to say this: Demand has increased. We've increased the number of beds from 30 to 45, and the number of refusals has almost doubled. The demand from people experiencing homelessness is increasing. The number of people in distress is increasing.
I welcome the government's investment, which has increased Reaching Home's funding, which is rising. However, there should be more funding. As a shelter, we're able to get people off the streets through extended emergency programs.
In October, we introduced a program for which we received 105 people.
It's a race against time; that's true, and my colleague is right to say so. People need to be given more time.