It has been several weeks since Nicholas Singcaster heard from Conrad Tremblay, the 62-year-old man he was visiting at a camp located on a small patch of grass between the train tracks and the bike path.

They had missed each other several times. In addition, Singcaster was preparing for the upcoming winter with the mobile clinic he runs for the benefit of the Old Brewery Mission, one of the largest homeless shelters in Montreal.

As a shelter outreach worker, Singcaster met Tremblay last summer, a few months after the clinic was launched. It was created in response to the increasing number of homeless in the city, which estimates suggest has doubled during the pandemic. The lack of space in shelters forced many to sleep on the streets or in camps like Tremblay's camp.

Singcaster said, "We decided to reach out to people instead of waiting for them to come to us."

He became attached to the chatty man in the organized tent and made regular visits to check on him.

Tremblay spent three winters outside and discovered all the ways to make that possible. His setup included a barbecue, a clothesline, insulated fabric, and a drainage trench. Neatly arranged items were placed above a bookshelf next to his mattress supported by milk crates.

He regularly cooked for his camp neighbors and street friends, and Singcaster helped Tremblay with other things: paperwork and taxes. The kinds of things that take a back seat to survival; the kinds of things necessary to get back into housing. And that was what was next on Singcaster's list for Tremblay: finding him a new home.

He told the skeptical Tremblay, "You’re not spending another winter here."

Singcaster rushed in, worried that Tremblay was stuck under the snow, but the neighbor said Tremblay had been taken away in an ambulance after having a heart issue. Singcaster called some hospitals and found him at the Jewish General Hospital in bad shape.

In addition to the heart problems, Tremblay suffered a serious infection in his leg due to a fall on a rusty piece of metal. He underwent surgery on his leg and then on his heart to fix an arrhythmia. In total, he spent three months in the hospital.

He told Singcaster that he didn't want to return to the camp. He said, "That's it." "Find me a place. I'm ready."

Singcaster got to work. He enrolled Tremblay in the mission's housing program, which identified two potential units he could live in, overseen by landlords willing to participate. As it turned out later, Tremblay was a good candidate for rental assistance since most of his affairs were in order.

Tremblay had one main request: that the apartment have a closed bedroom. He said, "I have a lot of things." In fact, Tremblay was starting over. He asked Singcaster to dispose of everything he owned at the camp and said he didn’t want to live near it. He hoped to find a place in Rosemont but was pleased when a small suite opened up in the basement of Montreal North.