MONTREAL- A hospice that provides shelter, food and support for people living with HIV and AIDS said it's being abandoned by Centraide after the charity group decided to yank funding.

La Maison d'Herelle, a hospice on St. Hubert St. near Roy St. in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, has received 16 per cent of its funding from Centraide and within three years, will need to find a new way to replace the $162,000 in lost monies to cover the costs of some of its programs.

"I don't understand how you can pull off from 20 years of supporting a group like that," said the hospice's general director Michele Blanchard.

One of four groups to be cut off from Centraide's funding, the umbrella organization said it was a difficult decision that came after a two-year study that convinced Centraide to focus on breaking the cycle of poverty by devoting more money on youth groups.

"Kids in very poor neighborhoods must have a chance to make it through school and become adults that can work and have their own family, so we must invest in making sure the young families, the children, the kids are going to have a chance," said Centraide president Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire.

For those that rely on Maison d'Herelle's services, the re-allocation of funding will affect them greatly.

"It means the world to me," said Roland Letellier, who spent 6 ½ months living at the hospice.

"They took the time; they gave me the attention. I knew that if I needed someone, there was someone at all times, and that was very good," he said.

La Maison d'Herelle said it is now struggling to determine how it will make up for the huge loss to its annual budget within three years.

"We are trying everything we can, but it takes years to catch up on that kind of stuff," said Blanchard.

The group and the four other organizations will be holding a joint news conference in the near future.