AutonHomme Pontiac is preparing to put a new mobile outreach van on the road this fall, part of a broader push to bring the organization’s housing, mental health and support services directly to residents in parts of the Pontiac where the group says it currently has little presence.

The initiative was one of several announced at AutonHomme’s annual general meeting on June 25, 2026, and comes as the organization’s latest annual report paints a picture of a region under sustained strain — with the Pontiac ranking among Quebec’s ten poorest MRCs and among its most economically devitalized, driven in part by an aging population.

Reaching the corners of the county

Director general Pierre-Alain Jones named Sheenboro, Chichester, Chapeau and Charteris specifically as areas where the organization remains “little known” and where it hopes to establish a stronger footing.

In written comments provided to Local Pontiac, the organization framed the van as more than a vehicle — describing it as a mobile office that will let intervention workers bring their services into communities rather than requiring residents to travel to AutonHomme’s offices. The group said transportation and distance are significant barriers for people in the more remote parts of the MRC, and that it also intends to bring the unit to community events, festivals and gatherings across the territory to connect with residents in a more informal setting.

“Rather than expecting people to always come to us, we want to be able to go where people are,” the organization said, adding that the Pontiac’s size means accessibility has to mean adapting services to the realities of individual communities.

The van will be scheduled and operated by AutonHomme’s existing intervention team. Funding for the project comes from a combination of sources, including an allocation from Santé Québec aimed at improving access to services for families and individuals across the Pontiac, along with support tied to a separate agreement to develop harm-reduction (“réduction des méfaits”) services in the region — a program area AutonHomme has also been building out over the past year with a dedicated project coordinator hired in September 2025.

An exact launch date has not been set beyond “this fall,” and AutonHomme said it expects to share more details on services and planned stops as the launch date approaches.

The need behind the expansion

The push for outreach comes as AutonHomme’s own numbers show its emergency housing and shelter services running near capacity. The organization’s four-bed emergency shelter posted an 84% occupancy rate over the past year, serving 17 men with an average stay of 72 days — some considerably longer, including one man housed for more than 11 months while awaiting a court date. Its emergency units at the former Shawville motel ran at 91% occupancy, housing 30 people, including two children, over the year; a further set of transitional units ran at 74% occupancy. Roughly two-thirds to seventy percent of adults across those programs were dealing with mental health issues, alcohol dependency, or drug dependency.

The organization also flagged a rise in homelessness among women, and described a client base that has become more complex over time, with more people facing overlapping challenges — severe mental illness, poly-substance use, physical health problems and extreme poverty.

AutonHomme, founded in 2010 in response to mill closures and elevated distress among men in the Pontiac, remains one of the only organizations in the Outaouais dedicated primarily to serving men, alongside a broader mandate that now includes family and children’s services, suicide prevention programming, and conjugal-violence intervention.

The mobile van adds to a list of priorities the organization has laid out for the coming year, which also includes finalizing financing for a new emergency shelter planned for 116 Rue Front in Shawville and expanding its harm-reduction services across the territory.

Local Pontiac reached out to AutonHomme Pontiac directly for comment on the mobile outreach van project.