CDN-NDG hires homeless, unemployed people to distribute borough flyers

The borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce has partnered up with community group L'Itinéraire to provide jobs to the homeless or unemployed.

The new employees will go door-to-door to give out information flyers to residents about everything from boil-water advisories to new compost pick up dates.

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"When people come to L'Itinéraire, they're looking for a way to get their life back, to do something, to work, to find themselves in society," said Charles-Éric Lavery, the head of social development.

"We want to offer more possibilities and the distribution for the borough was a way to offer something else."

Ray Adam first walked through the doors at L'Itineraire in March, homeless and hoping the community group could help him find a job. He was hired for the flyer distribution project.

He says he's faced a lot of stigma, having lived on the street.

"When you don't have a permanent address, a lot of businesses don't want to hire [you] because they think you are lazy, you don't want to work, you're an alcoholic or a drug addict," he said.

This partnership is the second for L'Itinéraire. It received a contract for a similar project from the City of Montreal in April.