Dans la rue: Pops’ van still rolls through Montreal winter nights

What they do

Dans la rue helps young people who are homeless or at risk, and it meets them where they are. Its best-known service is the Van, which stops five nights a week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) from 8:15 to 11 p.m. at three corners: Sainte-Catherine and Morgan, Gascon and Ontario, then Sainte-Catherine and De Lorimier. Youth get a meal, a bag of non-perishable food, warm clothes and someone to talk to.

There is also the Bunker, an emergency shelter for youth aged 12 to 21. It sleeps up to 17 young people and is open 365 nights a year. Its address is kept confidential, so youth call to get it. In Centre-Sud, the Day Centre at 1662 Ontario Street East offers a cafeteria, counselling, school and job support, and a music room. Dans la rue also runs apartments and family services for young parents.

The numbers give a sense of the scale. In its 2022-2023 annual report (November 2022 to October 2023), Dans la rue counted 22,325 visits to the Van, about 100 a night, and said the Day Centre cafeteria serves close to 38,000 hot meals a year. The Day Centre logged about 18,200 visits that year. A 2024-2025 annual report was published in June 2026, but its figures are only in a flipbook we couldn’t read, so the 2022-2023 numbers are the newest we can confirm.

How it started

In 1988, Father Emmett Johns, a Catholic priest everyone came to call “Pops”, took out a $10,000 personal loan and bought a used motorhome. He drove it through downtown Montreal at night, handing out hot dogs, clothes and toiletries to kids on the street. His question to them, as Dans la rue tells it, was simple: what can I do to help you?

The Bunker followed in 1993, and the day centre known as Chez Pops in 1997. Pops stepped back in 2016 and died in January 2018 at 89. The Van he started still runs.

Why it matters this December

A cold night in December is dangerous for anyone sleeping outside, and young people often fall through the cracks of adult shelters. In 2026, Dans la rue has pushed for prevention, urging political parties before the October provincial election to invest in keeping youth from becoming homeless in the first place. The Van, the Bunker and the cafeteria are what’s there in the meantime.

How to help

• Donate online through the donation page. Dans la rue is a registered charity.
• Drop off goods at 1664 Ontario Street East, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.
• Volunteer on your own or with your workplace. Options are listed under “S’impliquer” on danslarue.org.

Dans la rue hasn’t posted a 2026 holiday campaign or its holiday hours yet, so check the site before you go.

Official website danslarue.org