Thread by @JennieWordenTO

Since we've heard of Toronto shelters being shut down, I am going to share w/ permission a story of a refugee family now living in #BeachesEastYork. These are the stories of the people impacted by these decisions🧵

In Nov 2019, a Mexican non-governmental org supporting those escaping gender-based violence put a call-out in an international Facebook group asking for people in Toronto who could help a refugee family of two young children and their parents.

They were arriving the next day w/ essentially the clothes on their backs (not suited to a Canadian winter). A member of an east end parenting group I am a part of shared this call, & a few of us rallied to welcome them.

Our amazing community was able to source winter clothes, boots, cash & gift cards before the family even got through immigration. The Mexican NGO had found a shelter in the west end for them, but that shelter had no space & sent them on the bus to another shelter in Scarborough.

The only space that shelter could offer was the floor of their office. They could give them a blanket to sleep on but the family couldn’t settle in before 9:30 p.m. & would have to leave with all of their things by 7 a.m.

Upon hearing this, our little team reached out to the east end parents group for support, especially from Spanish-speaking members, & the lovely owners of Pomarosa (support their cafe!) went to the shelter to pick them up & then housed them for a while.

For six months, we all searched and searched for shelter space for them, and in the meantime they were hosted by various east end families. The only other option for them would have been on the street.

They searched for months for an apartment that would fall within their refugee housing allowance (approx $1000). There were almost none, when one was found there was a line to fill out an application & community member had to co-sign as they had no credit history here.

The 2-bdrm apt is in one of the most poorly served areas of the ward. The lack of landlord licensing & support for low-income tenants means that this family & their neighbours live in apts in poor repair, incl leaks, mold, flooding, bugs & vermin, & harassment from management.

But moving out is not an option as the alternative is the street. The lack of vacancy control in Toronto means that even a comparable home, let alone a nicer one, is beyond the reach of tenants living on minimal earnings.

This family has made so many friends since their arrival & they are thankful, above all, that their family is safe from violence, but the struggle to stay housed in Toronto is ongoing.

Anyone who is or who cares about someone experiencing financial insecurity knows this family’s story isn’t particularly unique. In fact, they are incredibly lucky.

Nearly one in five of our ward’s newcomers arrive as refugees with very little. But many born here have low incomes, too. And thousands of Torontonians are unhoused.

Hopefully, community members will rally to support every one of us who needs shelter, especially the children. I hope we are always generous & compassionate w/ each other, neighbour-to-neighbour.

But what my closeness to this family’s story underlined for me is how necessary it is for government policy to also be effective & humane & human rights-aligned. Housing isn’t truly affordable if it’s geared to unattainable market rates.

Shelters aren't truly accessible if they are places of outbreak, are full or are unsafe.

WoodGreen is Toronto’s largest non-municipal affordable housing provider & owns & manages 15 housing sites. It appears over 900 units are listed for seniors & just under 200 are set aside for the rest (those with mental health challenges, persons living with AID/HIV, and singles)

The city auditors report notes that of the chronically homeless population of Toronto, 30% are over 55 and 70% are under. Also, there are 206 families experiencing chronic homelessness (about 600 people, including 280 children + 23 youth). 💔

The auditor notes that the only issue is financial. The family simply can’t afford a market rent apartment.

There are many reasons I decided to run for #BeachesEastYork city councillor & one of them is that I know 59 modular housing units for individuals is a start but not nearly enough. And it’s easier to end up unhoused than many would like to think.

And violent displays of force against people experiencing homelessness isn’t the Toronto I want to live in. We have the resources in this city to do better, if we care to.

To end, a photo of two tired kids shared w/ permission being picked up by the owners of Pomarosa in Scarborough after a desperate flight to Canada from MEX, hours at the airport, hours of transit across Toronto, wearing the winter clothes sourced by lovely #BEY community members.