Think of a house
With three bedrooms, a den
A kitchen with a fridge and stove,
A bathroom and two balconies
A living room, a laundry room.
Feel a home
With three persons in it
Who read in the den;
One watches the telejournal in the living room Another warms up ham and potatoes in the kitchen;
It is my turn to clean the washroom.
Our bedrooms are private and cozy,
In them we read, write, relax and sleep.
Beginning to sound like your home?  Anyone’s home?
Well our home is even more special. It is an “abri en ville.”
Advocates build shelves for us, make curtains, balance budgets, move furniture, take us for groceries and to the movies.
A board of directors raises funds from churches and synagogues, corporations and individuals
So we can live modestly, do our laundry here,
Go to summer camp.
Coordinators meet with us help us to better organize our lives.
What else is our abri en ville?
Well, to us who’ve known the terror of emotional illness,
Who’ve struggled with it for so many years,
This abri in Notre Dame de Grace is a peaceful home
Blessed by God
And the work of many human hands.
With our hands and our hearts we, in turn, give a very warm
THANK YOU to all of you who have made it possible.

Mary Quinlan, resident 1995