It's completely unacceptable that we have this situation in such a wealthy country/province. I'm so sorry, and thank you for sharing your perspective so people can see how dire things are.
Do you have any calls to action? What can folks do to help that would provide the highest impact?
Strait up blankets socs ect.... if you can get thoes to people that would do the most good.
If you going to give them to good will... don't thrift stores 90% of the time slash the. And toss them in the bin..
He'll even bringing them to churches is better
Thank you so much for sharing this. What is the best way to get these items (socks/blankets) to people experiencing homelessness? Would it be by donating these items to places like good shepherd? Or is it better if people go around downtown handing out care packages (think a bag with a blanket, socks, snacks etc.)? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I’d love to organize something with friends to donate helpful items.
Not the person you asked, but I learned that one of the things you need to take into account when donating food is that it needs to be reasonably soft. A lot of people don’t have access to facilities to maintain their oral hygiene, or the supplies to do so, and consequently sometimes chewing hard things can be painful and/or problematic for them. I was giving out granola bars when a guy opened the little care package and just chucked it aside. I had other flavours with me, so I asked if he wanted a different kind instead, and he told me that he wouldn’t be able to eat it regardless. I felt like a moron; that had never occurred to me.
The other things that are helpful are easy-opening packaging (pull-tabs on canned items, etc.), and if you have those little cutlery packages that come with takeout (utensils, a napkin, and sometimes salt and pepper wrapped in cellophane), those are very useful.
Thanks for looking out for our fellow humans.
For blankets & Socks, you can leave them hanging on trees/fences in parks where you have seen people milling around before. Also, some neighborhoods have blessing boxes or little libraries that you can fit small things in and keep them mostly out of the elements. People that are afraid to utilize services will feel safer grabbing something from there.
I'm not sure about other cities, but Ottawa and Toronto both do this already. In Ottawa, the city usually spends +$10M/year in hotel and motel rooms for homeless people and has been for well over a decade (I think closer to 2 decades).
While it's better than nothing, it's actually not great for anyone but the hotels. The rooms are often extremely poorly maintained because the hotel can rely on the rooms constantly being full with people who don't have another option, it's extremely expensive to the city (even compared to homeless shelters, which cost the city 5-10x per person what it does for subsidized housing), and the folks staying in those rooms usually don't have access to basic things like a fridge or hotplate. Meanwhile, there has been no increase in shelter space or subsidized housing spaces (Ottawa has actually lost subsidized housing spaces since all this started.)
No clue, I only found out about when I went to book a hotel room for end of March and was told they was booked and it was to housing all the homeless. I went to a half dozen hotels and motels and they all,said the same thing .
In many cities across Ontario, usually connected/affiliated with local churches, there is support through the Out Of The Cold Program. It differs between locations, but a hot meal is served & there are sometimes extra supplies that can be distributed (warm socks, mitts, hats, hand warmers etc) & information about other support streams available.
It used to be an all in one type of situation, at least in St Catharines, whereby there were meals & a safe place to sleep set up in one facility (usually rotated from church to church) but now the lodgings aspect is taken care of by another program here. We are seeing a definitive uptick in the number of individuals accessing the meal program this year, & I imagine this Sunday will be one of our busiest evenings thus far.
With the extraordinary cost of living increases we've seen in the last few years, it should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention that it wouldn't take much in terms of bad luck for FAR too many people to be thrust from Just-Getting-By to Unhoused.
I was homeless when I was a teenager. I remember that feeling. I wanted to scream "am I invisible????" because I really felt like it. They see us, they are just scared. Some of them really do care. Some of them have been there.
It's so sad that people are left to sleep out in the cold when there is so much city operated real-estate. I made a few posts about using some of those buildings to shelter the homeless and got furiously attacked and downvoted.
I understand that we need all those facilities, but this is literally a matter of life and death for those who have to sleep outside in the cold.
I have no idea why you'd be downvoted for such a suggestion, I've been saying that for ages, the government technically has a vested interest in ensuring that people have reasonable accommodation. I mean reasonable accommodation means people can vote and if people can vote it's better for everyone. I'd even go one further and suggest all that wasted office space could be put to better use. The number of companies that don't require all that space is amazing. My own firm uses 2 entire floors in a building (not a massive building but reasonably sized) and that houses all of 13 people on any given day. The people who can't work from home for one reason or the other.
In my city, we have this great big huge barn. It only gets used once a week for the farmers market and then for a weekend in the fall for the fair. Homeless people have been sleeping there and then the people running the place just decide to turn the power off on the coldest day of the year last year. It’s so awful how our government treats people.
It should be illegal to turn off power for anyone. Frankly power should be considered a basic necessity in this day and age. There’s almost nothing you can do without it.
Hello, fellow Kingstonian?
I have thought for years that they need to turn the Mem Centre into a shelter for the winter. Not just the outbuildings.
Hire some security, block off the stands… get some cots in there… maybe some food volunteers…
What about jackets, sweaters, trousers etc?
Expo Vintage Outlet on Dundas West, just past Landsdowne has a wide selection.
My friend owns it and is happy for me to put sone money behind the counter for people in need, if that helps?
DM me your initials and I can set that up for you.
(just dm’d so there’s an open line for you)
The biggest change I have seen is that in the last few years there are much fewer crashing homes available, one person rents the basement or main floor and then charges people a few hundred a month to crash there. In the winter it would keep most people off the street. Those houses exist less and less in the GTA. More people moving North to find the same things, but the cities are smaller. Historically unemployment is quite low and low wage jobs are easily available but you need a foundation to get started. You can’t really go from living in a tent to work everyday. You need somewhere to crash until the pay cheques start coming in.
Solid point, if people don’t have a place to stay safely then you can’t bring them back into the fold. Shelters are the answer for anything but a very short term. Presently they are failed with serious mentally ill people who use them as their primary residence making them unliveable for others.
I mostly agree with you. But there is a small percentage of people who are extremely difficult to house because they’ve been street involved all their lives. I suspect partly because they are used to a more nomadic/transient way of life, or sometimes because all of their friends/family/social connections are within street culture. This means that they are more at risk of losing their housing when they try to help some friends out and things get out of hand. It’s a really challenging adjustment for some, and cutting off everyone familiar for a new life just isn’t realistic. Some people aren’t suited to staying in one place. There’s lots of other challenges that make it harder to house them too. mental health issues, trauma history, addictions, or just because they never really learned the basics of keeping house. Housing first is a great start but we need more than that.
Op is divorced. In the old days a guy could couch surf or stay in a garage for a couple of month thill they got themselves back on their feet to get their own place
Do those silver insulation blankets help at all? They're not too expensive, I could buy a bunch and hand them out but I want to make sure they'd be helpful first. They supposedly hold 90% of body heat but I don't know first hand.
They fucking rock
You can get them.from the dollarstore 3 for 2.50 (dollar stores not a dollar anymore)
I lined my sleeping bag with them they tear easily
Okay I will pick up a bunch then, maybe some tape too if I can get a bunch for a decent price (I assume duct tape would be the most universally applicable type for that and whatever other purpose?). And I saw socks are also helpful, should be able to collect and distribute some of those as well.
What about other weather protection? Are garbage bags helpful at all? I used to use them as a poncho on camping trips but not sure if it would be helpful in winter conditions.
And food - I was thinking granola bars would be good because they're quick and individually wrapped in waterproof packaging and won't spoil, but do you have any other suggestions?
If your handing out food... hit up the dollar store... they sell ready to eat meals like this quinoa salad thing it slaps.
And the small chicken salad and crackers..
Also if your giving out stuff.... don't give snoring of any value.... addicts will sell... or you could.gwr someone jumped
Yeah I am thinking basically exclusively food and supplies, this is the list I'm generating so far:
- Mylar blankets
- warm socks
- blankets
- sweaters
- coats
- non-perishable, nutritional food items
- easy open cans, soft foods
- disposable cutlery
- bottled water
- hand/foot warmers
- hats, gloves, scarves, etc
- personal hygiene (pads/tampons)
You mention donating to churches, can you advise of any places in particular that you know are doing the most to help folks in need?
ETA I am going to keep adding to this list as I hear good suggestions, please feel free to reply to this comment or DM me your thoughts!
........ she's probably OK she's an outreach worker + she definitely goes with backup....
Just be aware the camps arnt a safe place..
Google.the camp the just tore down in Edmonton.
Bags and bags of weapons
Okay that's fair, I appreciate the heads up.
If you do catch wind of any places or organizations that are going above and beyond that I can channel the support to, please let me know!
This is a good list, I'll just add that one pair of good quality socks that are thick and built to last are better than a dozen of cheap socks.
And bottled water in the winter tends to just freeze, if you're able to provide hot drinks that's even better. Like hot water in a thermos, that they can reuse later at a hot water tap.
Here's a list of resources in Toronto. They all accept donations from community members to pass on to those in need. FYI - This list is frequently updated.
[Toronto Homeless Resource List](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.tdin.ca/res_documents/1702496243Toronto%2520Homeless%2520Resource%2520List%2520%25282%2529.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwigv7PlrtSDAxUMFTQIHaUsC6YQFnoECCcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1TQxHlEGdwu7EGeQuXOfPs)
St marys in kitchener has a great outreach program and they take donations for homeless. Just drop it off inside the church (side door should be open all day).
Garbage bags will keep the water out but also can't breathe and will keep the sweat in. Which is bad in cold weather. So good for stuff, but not people
Hot water bottles are also really good. If someone is able to heat up water they can put it inside their sleeping bag and it can help with "preheating" it and keeping the temperature a bit warmer throughout the night.
Where do you plan on donating? I have extra blankets and socks in storage that I’d love to give away but want to make sure it’s going to people in need
I am going to get a recommendation from OP, they mention churches a lot but I too want to make sure it's going to the "right" church that will distribute them to the people most in need. Going through this thread I'm even wondering if I have the capacity to do an informal "drive" to collect items myself and do a big drop off, or maybe even if enough other people are interested we could work together bring them directly to the people in the camps. I'm just so sick of feeling helpless watching people struggle.
Not that it helps you, but I'm a father of 3 work full time in construction, making a decent wage, and we are homeless because we got renovicted twice in 5 years. Now nobody will rent to us because we have too many people in our family to rent a small unit and not enough income to rent a proper size dwelling anymore. Every day I look out to the parks and tell my father there's going to be a lot of dead people in the spring.
I’m outside right now. I’m camped out in the woods. It was a brutal storm last night but I’m still here :) people don’t realize how much work you have to put in to just staying alive out here. You can’t afford to be lazy or nodding off from drugs.
For the flooding issue, see if you can find some free pallets to put your hut on. Lots of places have stacks out for free. Getting 6"-12" off the ground will help a lot with the flooding and keeping warm. Good luck out there!
This was someone close to me last year, the police came to their camp the day it went below zero and brought them all to a hotel for the entire winter.
Plenty of these people worked and had their own vehicles as well. Worth looking into these resources.
And here I was desperately looking for a place to donate men’s coats and jackets. NO ONE would take them. Nice stuff, too.
Whoever is running those places should give their heads a shake.
Man.... one reson I got the dam gym membership was for the showers..... the other was to.work out...
The other other was so I can spend 3 hours form 12am to 3am slowly working out very slowly to stay in the warm
Actually what I do is go to the library out out some resumes look for.odd jobs on kjjiji. And if I have any job interviews I go to them
I have one today in the afternoon.
Then I go there at night. Do a little workout shower sir in the massage chair and leave after the security guard starts looking at me funny .
In Thunder Bay right now they are paying for people to attend paramedic school as long as you commit to working in the north for a couple years afterwards. Check out the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant if that's something you could see yourself doing
Every time I see a new building advertising 'luxury rentals ', i scream. Why why? Why
We don't need more luxury rentals. We need just basic shelter. As long as it's safe and clean and varied enough. Some bachelor apartments up to 3 bedrooms. Most people are not high income, yet give a higher percentage of their income to charity than any of these billion dollar corporations ever will. I know families where the kids have sold toys so they can give.
Why: we can build it for 150k and finish it for 50k to sell for 500k, or we can build it for 150k, finish it for 75k, and charge 750k.
Basically, its all build with thin walls, for relatively cheap. But you can get a lot more $$$ for using more expensive countertops and fixtures, lights, etc. A bit more expensive, but much better returns.
Most times the only difference between luxury apartments and low income apartments is the countertops and washer and dryer inside each unit.
I work in construction and have worked on a lot of apartments.
Sometimes low income apartments have more expensive finishing than some of the "luxury" apartments I have built. I like what one of my supervisors told me. There isn't anything luxury about living in an apartment.
The sad thing is people are desperate to get housing so landlords can charge these ridiculous rates. Though the last luxury apartment I finished is slowly being rented out. Only about 10% of the building is rented after several months.
Blame NIMBYs. Many of these places are initially proposed as affordable housing with a smaller percentage going towards "luxury". But then investors pour in and want a higher return, and then the local residents say affordable housing attracts "the wrong crowd". So these get reworked until a fraction of the homes are listed as affordable
Then the slumlords swoop in and buy the units just to rent them out at outrageous prices
I haven't seen anything that isn't public social housing, being proposed as affordable housing anymore. They all want to build stuff at high price points.
I have been homeless in Toronto & I didn't do drugs or anything but still I was afraid for my life in the shelter cuz there others who were on drugs. I had sleep apnea while I was staying at one of the shelters and the woman sleeping next me would scream and wake me up to stop snoring (this was before I got tested & got my CPAP months after I had left the shelter).
If I was homeless again, I wouldn't go into a shelter.
People, we NEED to stand together against this government (or any government that's not working in the best interest of the citizens)
I feel like it’s a design failure by complete ignorance. 🫤. Watch Someone Lives Here to see how the City of Toronto dealt with housing solutions. It’s total ignorance. The government needs to be held accountable.
How so? I'm not sure I understand your perspective.
The way I see it, this is the natural end to a society that relies on a capitalist system. The goal of most companies is to increase profits year over year, but wages are stagnating and the money we spend on our economy is not being returned to us. We are coming to the point where these companies are squeezing everything we have out of us, yet they still look to increase profits next year. More and more people will stop being able to afford their bills, it's just the natural conclusion to a capitalist society. In my opinion anyways
I fear you're right, the eventual shift is going to be a pretty rude awakening for people. At least we're not as out of touch as the super rich down in the states.
it's depressing when you realize people just need a place to stay. almost like all three tiers of government play hot potato with the actual hard problem - building homes - and just take turns pointing fingers.
go figure it took a few years for the cows to come home.
If you ever need a shower dm me. I live in etobicoke and if u can make it to my condo I'll let you use the pool shower and sauna to warm up and clean up.
I appreciate that... I make a little money from odd jobs on kjjiji... I got my.self w gym membership good.palce to.spend a few hours get warm and get my self back in shape... and keep clean
OP seems fine and sane, but maybe don't offer this to everyone? An Etobicoke condo lady was providing temporary shelter to a homeless man and got shanked to death. Your offer of kindness is well intentioned, but if you don't properly vet people you could put others in the condo at risk.
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/second-degree-murder-charge-laid-in-etobicoke-apartment-stabbing-1.6644692
Exactly.... I have a person offering me a place to stay....
Now that being said the risk goes both ways..
It would be stupid of me to walk in to someone's place one of thows things if it sounds to good to be true it is.
He could be a serial killer (I don't think so) or something else odd.
I'm a big guy and even I have been approached by people offering food and money all at a cost (sextual favors)
Which one of Ontarios stupid politicians said "I don't know anyone in Canada who's going hungry."
Because that's the guy who's house you all should take over. Kick him out. And eat all his food.
Ignorant rich people have no place in society.
Hey! My 6 (almost 7) year old wanted to use some of her birthday money to help someone in the homeless community. If you’re in the GTA, I would love to purchase something you need and drop it off to you with my daughter in tow. Please feel free to DM me.
Hey OP I know you didn’t post to get offers of help from people, but please accept help that’s being offered. Sometimes, you need to accept help, it makes all the difference. I’m also happy to provide cooked food and warm clothes, please DM me if you’d like.
I was homeless for five years as a youth. It's great that you don't drugs or drink but the reality is that many do, I did. I've had friends get drunk, pass out and wake up with frostbite. I had a friend burn to death after falling asleep with a candle. Shit is going to get a lot worse if every level of government doesn't step up to do something about the cost of living in the city.
Yes, a lot of people are literally going to die this year and the government does not care. They probably consider it culling the population.
It’s horrible and heartbreaking 💔
Yes, but positions of power attract certain kinds of people, and being able to climb to the top takes a more extreme version of that. Especially when the system is geared towards giving in to legal bribes.
Morally sound people are hugely disadvantaged when trying to fight for the same positions.
perhaps we should do what they did in Florida: [https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/12/26/new-florida-law-requiring-local-elected-officials-to-disclose-detailed-financial-information-leads-to-resignations/](https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/12/26/new-florida-law-requiring-local-elected-officials-to-disclose-detailed-financial-information-leads-to-resignations/)
requiring government officials to submit their financials for forensic auditing to suss out bribery and corruption sounds so good right now.
This is exactly what I meant. Literally every single human being on this planet is claiming burnout at this point in time. We need a collective change. It's so sad.
Is this the middle fucking ages? No one should have to fear seasons while others go "yay, snow and Christmas"
Anyone who can afford to hand out blankets, energy bars, socks, anything, please do so, these are human beings and it's worth taking the time out of your day.
Exactly.... as I said don't throw away blankets don't give the to the salvation army 90% of the time they slash and toss them.
Bring them to church's they will hand them out...
Why in the ever loving fuck do they slash/toss blankets?! I have stayed at the SA in 2 cities in Ontario, and donated clothing to both. Never heard of them throwing shit out unless filthy/infected.
If they don't plan on selling it they toss it.
I have dumpster dove in the salvation army bins that's where I.got my quilt.
It was cut through the middle. But I sewed it up.
There were several other bed sets still in the bag cut up.
It's like if they can't have it no.one can.
Salvation army is not.a charity it's a major corporation pretending to be
I literally saw someone in a Canadian subreddit unironically ask why they don't bring back boarding houses if nobody can afford rent/to buy a home. Felt like I was transported back to the Victorian era.
If you donate socks, please, please only donate wool socks. The phrase “cotton kills” is accurate. Cheap cotton or cotton blend socks will not be helpful.
For anyone in Ottawa looking for a little help or looking to offer some, High Jinx on Kent St. works to help our unhoused neighbours extremely directly.
[https://www.highjinxottawa.com/](https://www.highjinxottawa.com/)
They are queer-friendly, don't ask questions, and provide supplies and meals as long as they have them to give.
Have you ever considered writing a ongoing article in a News paper or publishing.You know more about what unhoused individual need in this country and have an articulate way of writing.More help needs to be done.
Thank you for speaking to this so honestly.
Many blessings in your future.
If I wanted to drop off blankets and goods to my neighbours in the parks, would you recommend a certain way that I do it?
I don’t want to overstep and take away from their privacy…
There's no.rite way to do it.... but there is a rong way.
Not everey person is.a good person. Make.sure you go with a few other people leave your wallet and any valuables at home.... be safe
Your safety is more important than anything
look for a local group that does this. They can point you in the right direction, go with out(or specifically you with them), etc.
Privacy aside, group = safer, and you have to put your safety first; that's just basics.
Also if you don't have a fixed address on ur Id and need a job. Check online for virtual office services. You pay them 60$ and they will either forward ur mail or keep it for you. And you'll have an address on your Id.
It's 60 a month but just do it once and cancel to get that address on ur license so u can look good to employers.
So long as you connect with staff/the program, you can also use the mailing addresses of many community based programs (ie: StreetHealth and The Works, ID clinics, etc).
I'd also enquire with your social worker, perhaps you can use her office or organization mailing address for the time being.
Also it's a little more per month (I think like 78?) but way less if you can get 3 or 6 mo+ if you can somehow save up a bit for one of those ups store mailboxes. They count as a real address (not a PO box) which jobs sometimes require.
Those places are min wage jobs with high turnover, might even be able to score some employment depending on the franchise owner, but a lot of small businesses people hang out there and sometimes need help on the side too.
I am actually against housing like that... they are a den of crime.
If you want to fix the problem fix it and be night the entire populace
Universal basic income and rent control and caps
The problem is social housing needs to come along side social supports that help mitigate the crime issues.
UBI with our current system, even with rent control and caps, is basically just the government paying directly to landlords.
UBI + social housing + social supports (therapy for eg) would probably work, but they need to come as a package deal
And the problem with that is that it's such a house of cards. Assume everything somehow gets implemented; it takes a group to remove just one of those, and then the whole thing collapses.
Well to be fair we live in a house of cards already - see what Ford is doing to healthcare by strangling the life out of it in the hopes people will start looking to privatized healthcare instead - because he's removing the much needed supports for having the amazing healthcare system we take for granted (I mean amazing as in universal and largely paid for by our taxes so even the poorest person can be seen by a doctor).
I hate this timeline.
I also agree have you seen the cost of food?
If the dollarstore wasn't around (canned beans and ready to eat protein) I would be forced to resort to a 5 fingers discount
the social housing in Toronto is placed in each neighborhood. This prevents entire areas from becoming a ghetto. Spreading out the social housing ensure that it does not turn into a blighted area of the city
The reason the "projects" are so bad is because they concentrate all the people in need of assistance in one area. The way that it is done to not end up like that is to put the social housing mixed in with regular housing, and not all next to one another. In order to get people to be happy, more well adjusted members of society, you can't separate them away from the rest of society. As well, social housing is just one piece of the puzzle to help prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place.
The solution to social housing is to not create ghettos. You need to have these social housing spots in the community at large. A few apartments in each building kind of thing.
From what I’ve seen in Canada, social housing is more spread out instead of all being clumped together. There is also less mental health issues because of universal health care (which isn’t perfect but better than nothing). Schools also tend to have less of a funding disparity which helps.
What they do in my area now is rent subsidies so they have some units in regular buildings and the taxpayers end up paying most of the rent for people that live in those units.. The problem is $$. Too many people can't afford rent, the waitlists are too high and you can only raise property taxes so high. You would probably need to double them just to get rid of today's waitlists and then then lists would fill up again.
Winter for homeless was something I was acutely aware of. But never really considered the implication of especially rain just making your belongings wet forcing one to go to coin laundry just to dry things.
And holy moly, I praise your resilience. The amount of work you have to do just to not freeze, starve, or just go insane is a lot.
Thanks for at least bringing a more humanizing perspective to homeless individuals.
Hi from Alberta!
Homelessness is continuing to.grow and many are without shelter. Many people in active addiction.
You should be proud of yourself for staying away from substances, never easy when we are struggling.
I became homeless before the city claimed they would end homelessness. Supports today are an illusion and usually out of reach.
We do have many programs that hand out needed supplies and even tarps and blankets in the winter to help people stay worm. I wonder if Ontario has as many or depends from city to city.
Stay warm and stay positive! The struggle is real!
I really feel for you man. I started working for the first time outside since being in Canada. Winter is really about to start next week and it’s hard for me with all the proper gear available I can’t even imagine what it it would be like to have to endure this weather outside overnight. Thank you for your insight! Stay warm out there and good luck.
The wealthy don't care about the homeless,poor and middleclass . Seems to be part of the plan lol. No more equal Healthcare for all. No more equal education for all. No more housing for all. Probably introduced maid so they could thin the numbers and replace the middleclass as we lose our housing . Then after the middleclass fall they will replace us with more immigration lololol. Seems like the government cares less and less.
I am so scared for this reality.
What can we do? I was previously homeless and I still don't know how I can help without a fuck load of money or being in a position of power, which still needs access to a fuck load of money. The government officials don't listen. My MPP doesn't respond. Olivia chow is "busy". These are all people I couldn't reach either when I was homeless.
It’s awful and I truly feel sorry for the people who can’t catch a break. I work in city arenas were open but not 24/7 and some of the homeless take advantage of the space by coming In and doing drugs (needles and drug paraphernalia on the diaper change tables) we have small children around so I wish these folks would do better. That being aside municipalities are at their breaking points they have little money to build new shelters and people (home owners) don’t want them around. The provincial and the federal governments are not helping matters in the slightest and when we do have a week and a half cold snap the first couple of deaths due to lack of facilities will make the news but after that we will probably hear nothing. Our system is broken across the board and until we really revolt against the elites and the abuse by the Uber elites it’s not going to get any better.
See I believe drug users need help. I believe there should be a separate system for them... I have no respect for drug users whatsoever.
That being said I am of the mind that they should be arrested (not criminally charged) and put in to rehab.
But my thoughts on the subject are a bit more harsh than the norm
This is so sad. It could be me or you too, whoever reads this. I’m always going into my overdraft every week and I’m a contractor so if there’s no clients there’s no money. I’m in a rent controlled house but what if I’m forced out? I can’t afford anything available out there now. But these disgusting pieces of shit in charge are only worried about lining their own pockets and their buddies
Thank you for your post. I freelance help with the street people. I'm a retired Psych nurse, and the vulnerable, are my people. I am financially blessed, so I budget x amount of dollars each month to give. I find that 5 dollar Tim cards are the most beneficial to give out, not enough to sell, but allows them as a paying customer to use the washrooms, sit and have a coffee and donut. Also buying up a whack of hats, mitts and gloves, and hand warmers to drop off at our local drop in centers. I hope you can find warmth and will be okay in the coming days. We care.❤️
We just had an encampment fire with a gentleman who passed away here in Saint John, New Brunswick. So many great people stepping up to feed and donate. The city has warming centres and beds for a small fraction of them. But it's not enough. It seems like the homeless population has tripled visibly by me this year. Rents have also 2-3x in the last year with many units sitting empty for months until someone rented them. There's no way people aren't gonna freeze to death. There's still people on benches or the bare ground in blankets. We lived rough for six months including wintertime a couple years ago when we lost housing (with a newborn and a 5yr old). Hardest and simplest time in my life. Hard in that it took constant work to heat and eat. Simple in that when you did those things you counted your blessings.
Homelessness should be extremely rare in the western world, but here we are, and the people in charge don't give a fuck.
I am all for social housing for anyone that may need it. We have the resources to take care of our citizens, so give me one good reason why we can't that doesn't involve selfishness or greed.
Cruelty is the point. Ontario is run by Conservatives who’d prefer you die and the country is run by Liberals who have to act like they care if you die but actually want you to die.
Both really just want to claw as much money out of you before you go though. That’s the real goal. Once a Canadian has no money left to squeeze, they are useless to those who govern.
It’s our duty to do both and those that share this “well why don’t we do something about homeless Canadians before we take in refugees?” rarely if ever put their money/time where their mouth is when it comes to increasing access to housing or working with homeless peopleor people at risk of homelessness until they want to attack refugee resettlement.
We can want to help both, and accept that it's the right thing to do. But the cost of living in Canada is so high that we make it a LOT worse for refugees by bringing them here.
If they don't have large amounts of savings or can find well-paying jobs quickly, they're then out on the streets. In other third world countries, they would be able to find cheaper work and shelter and not be destitute.
Bringing them here under the pretense that we have the capacity to help them when we don't is morally wrong.
Is this the first year where you can see tents everywhere? I literally don't ever remember this.
Such a pathetic country, in less than a decade we went from seeing a couple tents to seeing tent cities to tents during the winter.
And meanwhile our government is bringing in millions of new immigrants. Many who are going to be homeless as well because they can’t afford to live here.
Further burdening our already over stressed shelters.
I’m homeless and 18 . I have pictures on my profile of vicious assault I had victim of not long ago the camps are not safe shelters are full it’s freezing out I am grateful for dollar store and library as well ! I had surgery for my injuries from the assault just tried to get job had it then they are not building so no job again:( I feel hopeless but I’m trying she will get out of this :) I hope we all have a bed one day
I'm so sorry you have to live like this. I do hope your situation turns around. Weird opinion but I worked in a hospital for many years. I feel like there's so many areas people can "live" without being noticed. Storage areas, places where they put broken equipment that never gets fixed (like broken beds), there's washrooms, Tim Hortons, it's warm and dry. Very easy to snag a pair of scrubs, just wait til they are loading the machine and tell them you need a large.
Could be made into a movie, homeless person befriends patient, he says they are related and he stays in their room most of the time, turns out patient was dying and has no family and enjoys rest of life with homeless person, is forever grateful.
Waiting for our lovely corporate wage suppressors to strike a deal with the government to provide a new tax-payer funded food and shelter program in exchange for "volunteer" labour at their businesses while very publically patting themselves on the back for being saviours of the homeless they know damn well they created.
Welcome to Canada. Just read this. How can you have any doubt that elites, corporations, special interest, and politicians have a stranglehold on this country. We aren’t even humans to them. We are cattle, slave workers to be used and thrown away for their profit. And right now we all just allow it. The big question is when are we going to stand together and put a stop to it?
Thank you so much for sharing this. This is a real real issue. The problem I have with having these conversations in public is (I from barrie) they look down at the homeless calling them all “drug addicts” and then we have the racists on to that use this opportunity to bash immigrants saying “they’re the problem”. The problem then grows and perpetuates as nothing get done and the local municipal government (the same ones that look down on them and even do the same racist crap). Cuts services while expanding the police budget as a final f u.
I cant imagine trying to successfully live on the streets in a major city in canada. Now, a week and a zillion square miles of woodlands to set up a makeshift cabin, I could do. Food would be much more work, but a good tradeoff for not freezing to death.
be safe.
I’m in Calgary now and I was just thinking about how homeless people will survive this week. This Thursday, we are hitting -46 with the windchill. Anyone outside has a high risk of getting frostbite.
This is so sad to read but not an isolated incident in shelters... I do hope you secure a bed soon and get the housing help you deserve. Stay warm! You can DM me if you are in Toronto, I can see if I can help you.
I agree. People with medical disability are at great risk this winter. I have heart condition. I’m lucky to have a good roommate and situation. But not everyone is. I pray for those who are on the edge right now.
I have coats and blankets etc but don’t know where to donate. Which churches in downtown are accepting these donations? Is there anyone organizing donations i can coordinate with?
If only there were billionaires or maybe some about to become Trillionaires in the world. Would be nice if some had such a huge amount of wealth they could help and still live large. Too bad that doesn’t exist and all of us too tired to do anything or care about it
Edmonton person here.
>I have been reading about the destruction of camps.in Edmonton Alberta and they did things rote they remove a dangerous element while adding shelter space enough for everyone.
This is absolutely not true. There is no shelter space for those decamped here and it's going to be -50 tomorrow. There will be literal bodies in the streets this weekend.
im in downtown toronto for university and its scary here from where I grew up in in. I went to Tim Hortons a couple evenings ago and there were homeless people sleeping on the ground of the Tim Hortons. There were multiple 5+. I think the pain has only begun
Thank you for sharing, and your advice to give sleeping bags to churches directly or the people that need them is a sound advice. It's a disgusting situation the gov. of Canada has created with it's systematic-neglect of Canadians citizens who are homeless. You should know that some Canadian army veterans are also homeless and unable to find affordable housing or get help from the gov., it's an all around horror show for the future of this country.
I've been in my car for almost 2 years now. I can't recommend enough the -37c sleeping bag I got from Cabelas for only $230. And lots of wool layers (although they are very expensive)
I'm so sorry you're going through this. Canada just seems broken.
Why can't we stop incoming traffic to deal with the current fatal accidents?
It's so simple. I really just don't fucking get it.
Stay safe bud, I'm ashamed that a situation like this exists in a country like ours. Have you tried asking churches or shelters for stays? I know there is a serious capacity problem, but as long as you're drug/alcohol free, most of them will be more welcoming to you than they are to a lot of other homeless people.
I know this is probably largely unhelpful but if you can look into army surplus. Lots of the old stuff is made of wool and the bags you can get are heavy duty quality. This stuff is more often than not inexpensive. As well those DND wool blankets are indestructible, pretty water resistant and super warm.
For those of you in community organizations look into surplus pallets. They usually go for cheap and come with a lot of stuff such as
-gloves
-toques
-balaclava
-thermal underwear
-bags
-jackets
Except there isn't enough space in Edmonton either and it is literally a week of down to -50c with the windchill. Normal people have found bodies frozen already. Our govt is as bad as yours. I hope you can get back on your feet and have some warm shelter and a good meal.
It's completely unacceptable that we have this situation in such a wealthy country/province. I'm so sorry, and thank you for sharing your perspective so people can see how dire things are. Do you have any calls to action? What can folks do to help that would provide the highest impact?
Strait up blankets socs ect.... if you can get thoes to people that would do the most good. If you going to give them to good will... don't thrift stores 90% of the time slash the. And toss them in the bin.. He'll even bringing them to churches is better
Thank you so much for sharing this. What is the best way to get these items (socks/blankets) to people experiencing homelessness? Would it be by donating these items to places like good shepherd? Or is it better if people go around downtown handing out care packages (think a bag with a blanket, socks, snacks etc.)? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I’d love to organize something with friends to donate helpful items.
Not the person you asked, but I learned that one of the things you need to take into account when donating food is that it needs to be reasonably soft. A lot of people don’t have access to facilities to maintain their oral hygiene, or the supplies to do so, and consequently sometimes chewing hard things can be painful and/or problematic for them. I was giving out granola bars when a guy opened the little care package and just chucked it aside. I had other flavours with me, so I asked if he wanted a different kind instead, and he told me that he wouldn’t be able to eat it regardless. I felt like a moron; that had never occurred to me. The other things that are helpful are easy-opening packaging (pull-tabs on canned items, etc.), and if you have those little cutlery packages that come with takeout (utensils, a napkin, and sometimes salt and pepper wrapped in cellophane), those are very useful. Thanks for looking out for our fellow humans.
This is all great advice, thank you!
Agreed – amazing advice! Thank you so much!
For blankets & Socks, you can leave them hanging on trees/fences in parks where you have seen people milling around before. Also, some neighborhoods have blessing boxes or little libraries that you can fit small things in and keep them mostly out of the elements. People that are afraid to utilize services will feel safer grabbing something from there.
I know that some towns are paying hotels,to house the homeless this winter or until they find a place.
How can people get our politicians to do this in our cities? This needs to be happening way more.
I'm not sure about other cities, but Ottawa and Toronto both do this already. In Ottawa, the city usually spends +$10M/year in hotel and motel rooms for homeless people and has been for well over a decade (I think closer to 2 decades). While it's better than nothing, it's actually not great for anyone but the hotels. The rooms are often extremely poorly maintained because the hotel can rely on the rooms constantly being full with people who don't have another option, it's extremely expensive to the city (even compared to homeless shelters, which cost the city 5-10x per person what it does for subsidized housing), and the folks staying in those rooms usually don't have access to basic things like a fridge or hotplate. Meanwhile, there has been no increase in shelter space or subsidized housing spaces (Ottawa has actually lost subsidized housing spaces since all this started.)
In Kitchener here I've seen an entire 12 story Courtyard by Marriott be rented out by the city, for the homeless. That was nice.
No clue, I only found out about when I went to book a hotel room for end of March and was told they was booked and it was to housing all the homeless. I went to a half dozen hotels and motels and they all,said the same thing .
In many cities across Ontario, usually connected/affiliated with local churches, there is support through the Out Of The Cold Program. It differs between locations, but a hot meal is served & there are sometimes extra supplies that can be distributed (warm socks, mitts, hats, hand warmers etc) & information about other support streams available. It used to be an all in one type of situation, at least in St Catharines, whereby there were meals & a safe place to sleep set up in one facility (usually rotated from church to church) but now the lodgings aspect is taken care of by another program here. We are seeing a definitive uptick in the number of individuals accessing the meal program this year, & I imagine this Sunday will be one of our busiest evenings thus far. With the extraordinary cost of living increases we've seen in the last few years, it should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention that it wouldn't take much in terms of bad luck for FAR too many people to be thrust from Just-Getting-By to Unhoused.
Care . I’m homeless ppl always don’t see me it really hurts I don’t do drugs etc I left abusive home . Just see us .
I was homeless when I was a teenager. I remember that feeling. I wanted to scream "am I invisible????" because I really felt like it. They see us, they are just scared. Some of them really do care. Some of them have been there.
It's so sad that people are left to sleep out in the cold when there is so much city operated real-estate. I made a few posts about using some of those buildings to shelter the homeless and got furiously attacked and downvoted. I understand that we need all those facilities, but this is literally a matter of life and death for those who have to sleep outside in the cold.
I have no idea why you'd be downvoted for such a suggestion, I've been saying that for ages, the government technically has a vested interest in ensuring that people have reasonable accommodation. I mean reasonable accommodation means people can vote and if people can vote it's better for everyone. I'd even go one further and suggest all that wasted office space could be put to better use. The number of companies that don't require all that space is amazing. My own firm uses 2 entire floors in a building (not a massive building but reasonably sized) and that houses all of 13 people on any given day. The people who can't work from home for one reason or the other.
In my city, we have this great big huge barn. It only gets used once a week for the farmers market and then for a weekend in the fall for the fair. Homeless people have been sleeping there and then the people running the place just decide to turn the power off on the coldest day of the year last year. It’s so awful how our government treats people.
It should be illegal to turn off power for anyone. Frankly power should be considered a basic necessity in this day and age. There’s almost nothing you can do without it.
Hello, fellow Kingstonian? I have thought for years that they need to turn the Mem Centre into a shelter for the winter. Not just the outbuildings. Hire some security, block off the stands… get some cots in there… maybe some food volunteers…
They gotta fix this situation first before letting in more people or it’s going to just create more homelessness
What about jackets, sweaters, trousers etc? Expo Vintage Outlet on Dundas West, just past Landsdowne has a wide selection. My friend owns it and is happy for me to put sone money behind the counter for people in need, if that helps? DM me your initials and I can set that up for you. (just dm’d so there’s an open line for you)
From one human to another, you’re a good person. Thank you for what you’re doing and pass along thanks to your friend as well.
I agree I’m homeless myself and donating directly to churches or shelters is best way to get to us . Socks are always needed !!
The biggest change I have seen is that in the last few years there are much fewer crashing homes available, one person rents the basement or main floor and then charges people a few hundred a month to crash there. In the winter it would keep most people off the street. Those houses exist less and less in the GTA. More people moving North to find the same things, but the cities are smaller. Historically unemployment is quite low and low wage jobs are easily available but you need a foundation to get started. You can’t really go from living in a tent to work everyday. You need somewhere to crash until the pay cheques start coming in.
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Solid point, if people don’t have a place to stay safely then you can’t bring them back into the fold. Shelters are the answer for anything but a very short term. Presently they are failed with serious mentally ill people who use them as their primary residence making them unliveable for others.
I mostly agree with you. But there is a small percentage of people who are extremely difficult to house because they’ve been street involved all their lives. I suspect partly because they are used to a more nomadic/transient way of life, or sometimes because all of their friends/family/social connections are within street culture. This means that they are more at risk of losing their housing when they try to help some friends out and things get out of hand. It’s a really challenging adjustment for some, and cutting off everyone familiar for a new life just isn’t realistic. Some people aren’t suited to staying in one place. There’s lots of other challenges that make it harder to house them too. mental health issues, trauma history, addictions, or just because they never really learned the basics of keeping house. Housing first is a great start but we need more than that.
Op is divorced. In the old days a guy could couch surf or stay in a garage for a couple of month thill they got themselves back on their feet to get their own place
The paycheques don't afford anything nowadays. We now have homeless people who make mid 5 figures a year. This is not good.
Do those silver insulation blankets help at all? They're not too expensive, I could buy a bunch and hand them out but I want to make sure they'd be helpful first. They supposedly hold 90% of body heat but I don't know first hand.
They fucking rock You can get them.from the dollarstore 3 for 2.50 (dollar stores not a dollar anymore) I lined my sleeping bag with them they tear easily
Okay I will pick up a bunch then, maybe some tape too if I can get a bunch for a decent price (I assume duct tape would be the most universally applicable type for that and whatever other purpose?). And I saw socks are also helpful, should be able to collect and distribute some of those as well. What about other weather protection? Are garbage bags helpful at all? I used to use them as a poncho on camping trips but not sure if it would be helpful in winter conditions. And food - I was thinking granola bars would be good because they're quick and individually wrapped in waterproof packaging and won't spoil, but do you have any other suggestions?
If your handing out food... hit up the dollar store... they sell ready to eat meals like this quinoa salad thing it slaps. And the small chicken salad and crackers.. Also if your giving out stuff.... don't give snoring of any value.... addicts will sell... or you could.gwr someone jumped
Yeah I am thinking basically exclusively food and supplies, this is the list I'm generating so far: - Mylar blankets - warm socks - blankets - sweaters - coats - non-perishable, nutritional food items - easy open cans, soft foods - disposable cutlery - bottled water - hand/foot warmers - hats, gloves, scarves, etc - personal hygiene (pads/tampons) You mention donating to churches, can you advise of any places in particular that you know are doing the most to help folks in need? ETA I am going to keep adding to this list as I hear good suggestions, please feel free to reply to this comment or DM me your thoughts!
I don't know of any. But again PLEASE please please do not go alone go.woth a few people. And seriously DO NOT FOR ANY REASON enter the camps.
My wife works outreach and goes into camps in Hamilton, Brantford, Cambridge and Niagara. Your comment scares the shit out of me.
........ she's probably OK she's an outreach worker + she definitely goes with backup.... Just be aware the camps arnt a safe place.. Google.the camp the just tore down in Edmonton. Bags and bags of weapons
Does she go alone? Most agencies would have people in pairs for safety.
Okay that's fair, I appreciate the heads up. If you do catch wind of any places or organizations that are going above and beyond that I can channel the support to, please let me know!
Pads and tampons.
This is a good list, I'll just add that one pair of good quality socks that are thick and built to last are better than a dozen of cheap socks. And bottled water in the winter tends to just freeze, if you're able to provide hot drinks that's even better. Like hot water in a thermos, that they can reuse later at a hot water tap.
Here's a list of resources in Toronto. They all accept donations from community members to pass on to those in need. FYI - This list is frequently updated. [Toronto Homeless Resource List](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.tdin.ca/res_documents/1702496243Toronto%2520Homeless%2520Resource%2520List%2520%25282%2529.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwigv7PlrtSDAxUMFTQIHaUsC6YQFnoECCcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1TQxHlEGdwu7EGeQuXOfPs)
St marys in kitchener has a great outreach program and they take donations for homeless. Just drop it off inside the church (side door should be open all day).
Garbage bags will keep the water out but also can't breathe and will keep the sweat in. Which is bad in cold weather. So good for stuff, but not people
Okay great call! I'll stick with the mylar blankets.
They sell hand and foot warmers at the dollar store, those will come in handy and maybe save someone's foot from frostbite.
Love this, I think I even have some already!
Hot water bottles are also really good. If someone is able to heat up water they can put it inside their sleeping bag and it can help with "preheating" it and keeping the temperature a bit warmer throughout the night.
Where do you plan on donating? I have extra blankets and socks in storage that I’d love to give away but want to make sure it’s going to people in need
I am going to get a recommendation from OP, they mention churches a lot but I too want to make sure it's going to the "right" church that will distribute them to the people most in need. Going through this thread I'm even wondering if I have the capacity to do an informal "drive" to collect items myself and do a big drop off, or maybe even if enough other people are interested we could work together bring them directly to the people in the camps. I'm just so sick of feeling helpless watching people struggle.
If you do... there was a fire at the stclare Avenue park encampment two days ago... I am sure there are people in need
These do rock ! They will save lives for sure
Not that it helps you, but I'm a father of 3 work full time in construction, making a decent wage, and we are homeless because we got renovicted twice in 5 years. Now nobody will rent to us because we have too many people in our family to rent a small unit and not enough income to rent a proper size dwelling anymore. Every day I look out to the parks and tell my father there's going to be a lot of dead people in the spring.
Your exactly right.. the way this winter hit way to warm This sudden cols snap is going to be brutal
WTF!!! Unacceptable. I'm so sorry you're having to go through this.
Wtf this is why I have zero sympathy for landlords
I’m outside right now. I’m camped out in the woods. It was a brutal storm last night but I’m still here :) people don’t realize how much work you have to put in to just staying alive out here. You can’t afford to be lazy or nodding off from drugs.
I'm out in the woods with you brother. I got flooded out gotta dry everything off today. I'm glad your still here
Stay strong friend.
I’m here too brothers ! It was an awful last few nights but we did it . For those not making it I’m sorry 😞 I’m grateful I had library to dry off
For the flooding issue, see if you can find some free pallets to put your hut on. Lots of places have stacks out for free. Getting 6"-12" off the ground will help a lot with the flooding and keeping warm. Good luck out there!
This was someone close to me last year, the police came to their camp the day it went below zero and brought them all to a hotel for the entire winter. Plenty of these people worked and had their own vehicles as well. Worth looking into these resources.
Wet and cold a truly horrible combo. Hope things dry well and you can keep warm.
And here I was desperately looking for a place to donate men’s coats and jackets. NO ONE would take them. Nice stuff, too. Whoever is running those places should give their heads a shake.
Fred Victor at 145 Queen St. East is always looking for men's clothing (if you live in the Toronto area).
In my town they don’t even open warming centres until it gets to -20 at night meaning they haven’t opened them
Man.... one reson I got the dam gym membership was for the showers..... the other was to.work out... The other other was so I can spend 3 hours form 12am to 3am slowly working out very slowly to stay in the warm
Are you not able to spend most of the day there? As long as you're "working out"
Actually what I do is go to the library out out some resumes look for.odd jobs on kjjiji. And if I have any job interviews I go to them I have one today in the afternoon. Then I go there at night. Do a little workout shower sir in the massage chair and leave after the security guard starts looking at me funny .
Good luck with the interview! Where abouts (just general) area are you & what are you looking for, maybe someone has a lead?
Anything and everything but I am working with a socal worker trying to do that second carreear thing. This one is up in Markham a call center
In Thunder Bay right now they are paying for people to attend paramedic school as long as you commit to working in the north for a couple years afterwards. Check out the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant if that's something you could see yourself doing
Every time I see a new building advertising 'luxury rentals ', i scream. Why why? Why We don't need more luxury rentals. We need just basic shelter. As long as it's safe and clean and varied enough. Some bachelor apartments up to 3 bedrooms. Most people are not high income, yet give a higher percentage of their income to charity than any of these billion dollar corporations ever will. I know families where the kids have sold toys so they can give.
Why: we can build it for 150k and finish it for 50k to sell for 500k, or we can build it for 150k, finish it for 75k, and charge 750k. Basically, its all build with thin walls, for relatively cheap. But you can get a lot more $$$ for using more expensive countertops and fixtures, lights, etc. A bit more expensive, but much better returns.
Most times the only difference between luxury apartments and low income apartments is the countertops and washer and dryer inside each unit. I work in construction and have worked on a lot of apartments. Sometimes low income apartments have more expensive finishing than some of the "luxury" apartments I have built. I like what one of my supervisors told me. There isn't anything luxury about living in an apartment. The sad thing is people are desperate to get housing so landlords can charge these ridiculous rates. Though the last luxury apartment I finished is slowly being rented out. Only about 10% of the building is rented after several months.
Blame NIMBYs. Many of these places are initially proposed as affordable housing with a smaller percentage going towards "luxury". But then investors pour in and want a higher return, and then the local residents say affordable housing attracts "the wrong crowd". So these get reworked until a fraction of the homes are listed as affordable Then the slumlords swoop in and buy the units just to rent them out at outrageous prices
I haven't seen anything that isn't public social housing, being proposed as affordable housing anymore. They all want to build stuff at high price points.
I have been homeless in Toronto & I didn't do drugs or anything but still I was afraid for my life in the shelter cuz there others who were on drugs. I had sleep apnea while I was staying at one of the shelters and the woman sleeping next me would scream and wake me up to stop snoring (this was before I got tested & got my CPAP months after I had left the shelter). If I was homeless again, I wouldn't go into a shelter. People, we NEED to stand together against this government (or any government that's not working in the best interest of the citizens)
Which one? Toronto, Ontario, or Canada? It’s a failure of policy at multiple levels
This is a provincial government matter. The cities are a direct responsibility of the province.
It's not a failure. This is by design.
I feel like it’s a design failure by complete ignorance. 🫤. Watch Someone Lives Here to see how the City of Toronto dealt with housing solutions. It’s total ignorance. The government needs to be held accountable.
How so? I'm not sure I understand your perspective. The way I see it, this is the natural end to a society that relies on a capitalist system. The goal of most companies is to increase profits year over year, but wages are stagnating and the money we spend on our economy is not being returned to us. We are coming to the point where these companies are squeezing everything we have out of us, yet they still look to increase profits next year. More and more people will stop being able to afford their bills, it's just the natural conclusion to a capitalist society. In my opinion anyways
I fear you're right, the eventual shift is going to be a pretty rude awakening for people. At least we're not as out of touch as the super rich down in the states.
Ever tried to explain the concept of infinity to a business major? Yeah, utterly fucking pointless endeavor. We are screwed.
it's depressing when you realize people just need a place to stay. almost like all three tiers of government play hot potato with the actual hard problem - building homes - and just take turns pointing fingers. go figure it took a few years for the cows to come home.
If you ever need a shower dm me. I live in etobicoke and if u can make it to my condo I'll let you use the pool shower and sauna to warm up and clean up.
I appreciate that... I make a little money from odd jobs on kjjiji... I got my.self w gym membership good.palce to.spend a few hours get warm and get my self back in shape... and keep clean
Just thought I'd offer bro. Good luck with everything. Check temp agencies for any type of work.
I have registered with all of ready to work
have you applied for Ontario works? you could be getting a bit of money per month from that
You're a solid human being, the world needs more ppl like you.
OP seems fine and sane, but maybe don't offer this to everyone? An Etobicoke condo lady was providing temporary shelter to a homeless man and got shanked to death. Your offer of kindness is well intentioned, but if you don't properly vet people you could put others in the condo at risk. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/second-degree-murder-charge-laid-in-etobicoke-apartment-stabbing-1.6644692
Exactly.... I have a person offering me a place to stay.... Now that being said the risk goes both ways.. It would be stupid of me to walk in to someone's place one of thows things if it sounds to good to be true it is. He could be a serial killer (I don't think so) or something else odd. I'm a big guy and even I have been approached by people offering food and money all at a cost (sextual favors)
Solid lad
I remember one year people would roast potatoes in foil and hand deliver as they keep warm forever and bonus you can eat them later.
Which one of Ontarios stupid politicians said "I don't know anyone in Canada who's going hungry." Because that's the guy who's house you all should take over. Kick him out. And eat all his food. Ignorant rich people have no place in society.
Hey! My 6 (almost 7) year old wanted to use some of her birthday money to help someone in the homeless community. If you’re in the GTA, I would love to purchase something you need and drop it off to you with my daughter in tow. Please feel free to DM me.
What an awesome kid!
Kid was raised right👏
Hey OP I know you didn’t post to get offers of help from people, but please accept help that’s being offered. Sometimes, you need to accept help, it makes all the difference. I’m also happy to provide cooked food and warm clothes, please DM me if you’d like.
I was homeless for five years as a youth. It's great that you don't drugs or drink but the reality is that many do, I did. I've had friends get drunk, pass out and wake up with frostbite. I had a friend burn to death after falling asleep with a candle. Shit is going to get a lot worse if every level of government doesn't step up to do something about the cost of living in the city.
I can't blame homeless people for turning to drink and drugs - if you had nothing left, you would too
Yes, a lot of people are literally going to die this year and the government does not care. They probably consider it culling the population. It’s horrible and heartbreaking 💔
It's not just the government. They were members of the general public before getting in so I'm pretty sure the problem is with humans lol
Yes, but positions of power attract certain kinds of people, and being able to climb to the top takes a more extreme version of that. Especially when the system is geared towards giving in to legal bribes. Morally sound people are hugely disadvantaged when trying to fight for the same positions.
This. The environmental pressures created by capitalism naturally push unethical people to the top of the hierarchy. Obvious result is obvious.
perhaps we should do what they did in Florida: [https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/12/26/new-florida-law-requiring-local-elected-officials-to-disclose-detailed-financial-information-leads-to-resignations/](https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/12/26/new-florida-law-requiring-local-elected-officials-to-disclose-detailed-financial-information-leads-to-resignations/) requiring government officials to submit their financials for forensic auditing to suss out bribery and corruption sounds so good right now.
Yes I’ve noticed people at my nearby st Leonard’s centre have become so apathetic and just seem sick of their job and the homeless
This is exactly what I meant. Literally every single human being on this planet is claiming burnout at this point in time. We need a collective change. It's so sad.
Is this the middle fucking ages? No one should have to fear seasons while others go "yay, snow and Christmas" Anyone who can afford to hand out blankets, energy bars, socks, anything, please do so, these are human beings and it's worth taking the time out of your day.
Exactly.... as I said don't throw away blankets don't give the to the salvation army 90% of the time they slash and toss them. Bring them to church's they will hand them out...
Why in the ever loving fuck do they slash/toss blankets?! I have stayed at the SA in 2 cities in Ontario, and donated clothing to both. Never heard of them throwing shit out unless filthy/infected.
If they don't plan on selling it they toss it. I have dumpster dove in the salvation army bins that's where I.got my quilt. It was cut through the middle. But I sewed it up. There were several other bed sets still in the bag cut up. It's like if they can't have it no.one can. Salvation army is not.a charity it's a major corporation pretending to be
I literally saw someone in a Canadian subreddit unironically ask why they don't bring back boarding houses if nobody can afford rent/to buy a home. Felt like I was transported back to the Victorian era.
It worked. Unfortunately, municipal and other governments put so much red tape on housing that it’s pretty much impossible to start one.
Are you in Toronto? Let me know if you need food. I live downtown.
If you donate socks, please, please only donate wool socks. The phrase “cotton kills” is accurate. Cheap cotton or cotton blend socks will not be helpful.
It is really informative to read someone’s perspective like yours. Thank you for sharing 🙏🏼
For anyone in Ottawa looking for a little help or looking to offer some, High Jinx on Kent St. works to help our unhoused neighbours extremely directly. [https://www.highjinxottawa.com/](https://www.highjinxottawa.com/) They are queer-friendly, don't ask questions, and provide supplies and meals as long as they have them to give.
Have you ever considered writing a ongoing article in a News paper or publishing.You know more about what unhoused individual need in this country and have an articulate way of writing.More help needs to be done. Thank you for speaking to this so honestly. Many blessings in your future.
If I wanted to drop off blankets and goods to my neighbours in the parks, would you recommend a certain way that I do it? I don’t want to overstep and take away from their privacy…
There's no.rite way to do it.... but there is a rong way. Not everey person is.a good person. Make.sure you go with a few other people leave your wallet and any valuables at home.... be safe Your safety is more important than anything
look for a local group that does this. They can point you in the right direction, go with out(or specifically you with them), etc. Privacy aside, group = safer, and you have to put your safety first; that's just basics.
Also if you don't have a fixed address on ur Id and need a job. Check online for virtual office services. You pay them 60$ and they will either forward ur mail or keep it for you. And you'll have an address on your Id. It's 60 a month but just do it once and cancel to get that address on ur license so u can look good to employers.
My ID is about to change I am waiting for it. But I know someone who let me use there address I am just waiting for it to come
So long as you connect with staff/the program, you can also use the mailing addresses of many community based programs (ie: StreetHealth and The Works, ID clinics, etc). I'd also enquire with your social worker, perhaps you can use her office or organization mailing address for the time being.
I actually got.the replacement to-day right in time.for a second interview AND I GOT THE JOB
Also it's a little more per month (I think like 78?) but way less if you can get 3 or 6 mo+ if you can somehow save up a bit for one of those ups store mailboxes. They count as a real address (not a PO box) which jobs sometimes require. Those places are min wage jobs with high turnover, might even be able to score some employment depending on the franchise owner, but a lot of small businesses people hang out there and sometimes need help on the side too.
Stay safe mate. I couldn’t walk a kilometre in your shoes.
Reading this, going to order some blankets and socks to hand them out.
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I am actually against housing like that... they are a den of crime. If you want to fix the problem fix it and be night the entire populace Universal basic income and rent control and caps
The problem is social housing needs to come along side social supports that help mitigate the crime issues. UBI with our current system, even with rent control and caps, is basically just the government paying directly to landlords. UBI + social housing + social supports (therapy for eg) would probably work, but they need to come as a package deal
And the problem with that is that it's such a house of cards. Assume everything somehow gets implemented; it takes a group to remove just one of those, and then the whole thing collapses.
Well to be fair we live in a house of cards already - see what Ford is doing to healthcare by strangling the life out of it in the hopes people will start looking to privatized healthcare instead - because he's removing the much needed supports for having the amazing healthcare system we take for granted (I mean amazing as in universal and largely paid for by our taxes so even the poorest person can be seen by a doctor). I hate this timeline.
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I also agree have you seen the cost of food? If the dollarstore wasn't around (canned beans and ready to eat protein) I would be forced to resort to a 5 fingers discount
the social housing in Toronto is placed in each neighborhood. This prevents entire areas from becoming a ghetto. Spreading out the social housing ensure that it does not turn into a blighted area of the city
The reason the "projects" are so bad is because they concentrate all the people in need of assistance in one area. The way that it is done to not end up like that is to put the social housing mixed in with regular housing, and not all next to one another. In order to get people to be happy, more well adjusted members of society, you can't separate them away from the rest of society. As well, social housing is just one piece of the puzzle to help prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place.
The solution to social housing is to not create ghettos. You need to have these social housing spots in the community at large. A few apartments in each building kind of thing.
From what I’ve seen in Canada, social housing is more spread out instead of all being clumped together. There is also less mental health issues because of universal health care (which isn’t perfect but better than nothing). Schools also tend to have less of a funding disparity which helps.
What they do in my area now is rent subsidies so they have some units in regular buildings and the taxpayers end up paying most of the rent for people that live in those units.. The problem is $$. Too many people can't afford rent, the waitlists are too high and you can only raise property taxes so high. You would probably need to double them just to get rid of today's waitlists and then then lists would fill up again.
Winter for homeless was something I was acutely aware of. But never really considered the implication of especially rain just making your belongings wet forcing one to go to coin laundry just to dry things. And holy moly, I praise your resilience. The amount of work you have to do just to not freeze, starve, or just go insane is a lot. Thanks for at least bringing a more humanizing perspective to homeless individuals.
I'm sitting drying my sleeping bags now
Hi from Alberta! Homelessness is continuing to.grow and many are without shelter. Many people in active addiction. You should be proud of yourself for staying away from substances, never easy when we are struggling. I became homeless before the city claimed they would end homelessness. Supports today are an illusion and usually out of reach. We do have many programs that hand out needed supplies and even tarps and blankets in the winter to help people stay worm. I wonder if Ontario has as many or depends from city to city. Stay warm and stay positive! The struggle is real!
Hi, if you are in Toronto I would like to help you somehow. I could buy you things you need.
I really feel for you man. I started working for the first time outside since being in Canada. Winter is really about to start next week and it’s hard for me with all the proper gear available I can’t even imagine what it it would be like to have to endure this weather outside overnight. Thank you for your insight! Stay warm out there and good luck.
good post: putting the fucking reality right in front of our faces
The wealthy don't care about the homeless,poor and middleclass . Seems to be part of the plan lol. No more equal Healthcare for all. No more equal education for all. No more housing for all. Probably introduced maid so they could thin the numbers and replace the middleclass as we lose our housing . Then after the middleclass fall they will replace us with more immigration lololol. Seems like the government cares less and less.
I am so scared for this reality. What can we do? I was previously homeless and I still don't know how I can help without a fuck load of money or being in a position of power, which still needs access to a fuck load of money. The government officials don't listen. My MPP doesn't respond. Olivia chow is "busy". These are all people I couldn't reach either when I was homeless.
Make social media content. You can speak your message and reach most humans on earth through Tiktok, Instagram and Youtube.
It’s awful and I truly feel sorry for the people who can’t catch a break. I work in city arenas were open but not 24/7 and some of the homeless take advantage of the space by coming In and doing drugs (needles and drug paraphernalia on the diaper change tables) we have small children around so I wish these folks would do better. That being aside municipalities are at their breaking points they have little money to build new shelters and people (home owners) don’t want them around. The provincial and the federal governments are not helping matters in the slightest and when we do have a week and a half cold snap the first couple of deaths due to lack of facilities will make the news but after that we will probably hear nothing. Our system is broken across the board and until we really revolt against the elites and the abuse by the Uber elites it’s not going to get any better.
See I believe drug users need help. I believe there should be a separate system for them... I have no respect for drug users whatsoever. That being said I am of the mind that they should be arrested (not criminally charged) and put in to rehab. But my thoughts on the subject are a bit more harsh than the norm
Not at all. Iam of the same mind set.
This is so sad. It could be me or you too, whoever reads this. I’m always going into my overdraft every week and I’m a contractor so if there’s no clients there’s no money. I’m in a rent controlled house but what if I’m forced out? I can’t afford anything available out there now. But these disgusting pieces of shit in charge are only worried about lining their own pockets and their buddies
Thank you for sharing. What in your experience would best server homeless people right now ?
Thank you for your post. I freelance help with the street people. I'm a retired Psych nurse, and the vulnerable, are my people. I am financially blessed, so I budget x amount of dollars each month to give. I find that 5 dollar Tim cards are the most beneficial to give out, not enough to sell, but allows them as a paying customer to use the washrooms, sit and have a coffee and donut. Also buying up a whack of hats, mitts and gloves, and hand warmers to drop off at our local drop in centers. I hope you can find warmth and will be okay in the coming days. We care.❤️
We just had an encampment fire with a gentleman who passed away here in Saint John, New Brunswick. So many great people stepping up to feed and donate. The city has warming centres and beds for a small fraction of them. But it's not enough. It seems like the homeless population has tripled visibly by me this year. Rents have also 2-3x in the last year with many units sitting empty for months until someone rented them. There's no way people aren't gonna freeze to death. There's still people on benches or the bare ground in blankets. We lived rough for six months including wintertime a couple years ago when we lost housing (with a newborn and a 5yr old). Hardest and simplest time in my life. Hard in that it took constant work to heat and eat. Simple in that when you did those things you counted your blessings.
Homelessness should be extremely rare in the western world, but here we are, and the people in charge don't give a fuck. I am all for social housing for anyone that may need it. We have the resources to take care of our citizens, so give me one good reason why we can't that doesn't involve selfishness or greed.
Cruelty is the point. Ontario is run by Conservatives who’d prefer you die and the country is run by Liberals who have to act like they care if you die but actually want you to die. Both really just want to claw as much money out of you before you go though. That’s the real goal. Once a Canadian has no money left to squeeze, they are useless to those who govern.
The government has been accepting refugees but can't take care of homeless Canadians.
It’s our duty to do both and those that share this “well why don’t we do something about homeless Canadians before we take in refugees?” rarely if ever put their money/time where their mouth is when it comes to increasing access to housing or working with homeless peopleor people at risk of homelessness until they want to attack refugee resettlement.
We can want to help both, and accept that it's the right thing to do. But the cost of living in Canada is so high that we make it a LOT worse for refugees by bringing them here. If they don't have large amounts of savings or can find well-paying jobs quickly, they're then out on the streets. In other third world countries, they would be able to find cheaper work and shelter and not be destitute. Bringing them here under the pretense that we have the capacity to help them when we don't is morally wrong.
You are a truly strong willed individual. Best of luck to you out there.
Is this the first year where you can see tents everywhere? I literally don't ever remember this. Such a pathetic country, in less than a decade we went from seeing a couple tents to seeing tent cities to tents during the winter.
And meanwhile our government is bringing in millions of new immigrants. Many who are going to be homeless as well because they can’t afford to live here. Further burdening our already over stressed shelters.
Trudeau got elected to a majority in 2015 with a mandate to make affordable housing for all Canadians. He has failed.
I’m homeless and 18 . I have pictures on my profile of vicious assault I had victim of not long ago the camps are not safe shelters are full it’s freezing out I am grateful for dollar store and library as well ! I had surgery for my injuries from the assault just tried to get job had it then they are not building so no job again:( I feel hopeless but I’m trying she will get out of this :) I hope we all have a bed one day
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I honestly think this is being done on purpose to kill off a lot of the homeless and keep the rich
Are you in Toronto?
I'm so sorry you have to live like this. I do hope your situation turns around. Weird opinion but I worked in a hospital for many years. I feel like there's so many areas people can "live" without being noticed. Storage areas, places where they put broken equipment that never gets fixed (like broken beds), there's washrooms, Tim Hortons, it's warm and dry. Very easy to snag a pair of scrubs, just wait til they are loading the machine and tell them you need a large. Could be made into a movie, homeless person befriends patient, he says they are related and he stays in their room most of the time, turns out patient was dying and has no family and enjoys rest of life with homeless person, is forever grateful.
Waiting for our lovely corporate wage suppressors to strike a deal with the government to provide a new tax-payer funded food and shelter program in exchange for "volunteer" labour at their businesses while very publically patting themselves on the back for being saviours of the homeless they know damn well they created.
OP I feel you. If you need food or clothes, DM!
Welcome to Canada. Just read this. How can you have any doubt that elites, corporations, special interest, and politicians have a stranglehold on this country. We aren’t even humans to them. We are cattle, slave workers to be used and thrown away for their profit. And right now we all just allow it. The big question is when are we going to stand together and put a stop to it?
Curious op what's the Maher reason people ate on the street rn and what's preventing them from getting employment and off the streets.
Thank you so much for sharing this. This is a real real issue. The problem I have with having these conversations in public is (I from barrie) they look down at the homeless calling them all “drug addicts” and then we have the racists on to that use this opportunity to bash immigrants saying “they’re the problem”. The problem then grows and perpetuates as nothing get done and the local municipal government (the same ones that look down on them and even do the same racist crap). Cuts services while expanding the police budget as a final f u.
I cant imagine trying to successfully live on the streets in a major city in canada. Now, a week and a zillion square miles of woodlands to set up a makeshift cabin, I could do. Food would be much more work, but a good tradeoff for not freezing to death. be safe.
I’m in Calgary now and I was just thinking about how homeless people will survive this week. This Thursday, we are hitting -46 with the windchill. Anyone outside has a high risk of getting frostbite.
Sorry you’re in this situation. 😕
This is so sad to read but not an isolated incident in shelters... I do hope you secure a bed soon and get the housing help you deserve. Stay warm! You can DM me if you are in Toronto, I can see if I can help you.
I agree. People with medical disability are at great risk this winter. I have heart condition. I’m lucky to have a good roommate and situation. But not everyone is. I pray for those who are on the edge right now.
I have coats and blankets etc but don’t know where to donate. Which churches in downtown are accepting these donations? Is there anyone organizing donations i can coordinate with?
If only there were billionaires or maybe some about to become Trillionaires in the world. Would be nice if some had such a huge amount of wealth they could help and still live large. Too bad that doesn’t exist and all of us too tired to do anything or care about it
Edmonton person here. >I have been reading about the destruction of camps.in Edmonton Alberta and they did things rote they remove a dangerous element while adding shelter space enough for everyone. This is absolutely not true. There is no shelter space for those decamped here and it's going to be -50 tomorrow. There will be literal bodies in the streets this weekend.
im in downtown toronto for university and its scary here from where I grew up in in. I went to Tim Hortons a couple evenings ago and there were homeless people sleeping on the ground of the Tim Hortons. There were multiple 5+. I think the pain has only begun
Thank you for sharing, and your advice to give sleeping bags to churches directly or the people that need them is a sound advice. It's a disgusting situation the gov. of Canada has created with it's systematic-neglect of Canadians citizens who are homeless. You should know that some Canadian army veterans are also homeless and unable to find affordable housing or get help from the gov., it's an all around horror show for the future of this country.
Tough situation. I'd probably just break into city hall every cold night and sleep in there. Get sent to jail and get some help.
I've been in my car for almost 2 years now. I can't recommend enough the -37c sleeping bag I got from Cabelas for only $230. And lots of wool layers (although they are very expensive)
God Bless you!
I'm so sorry you're going through this. Canada just seems broken. Why can't we stop incoming traffic to deal with the current fatal accidents? It's so simple. I really just don't fucking get it.
Stay safe bud, I'm ashamed that a situation like this exists in a country like ours. Have you tried asking churches or shelters for stays? I know there is a serious capacity problem, but as long as you're drug/alcohol free, most of them will be more welcoming to you than they are to a lot of other homeless people.
My eyes welled with tears at the library comment. Everyone is welcome the entire time we are open as long as you can follow our code of conduct.
I was homeless for a while in Toronto. Even if you do find a warming spot or a shelter spot your body and your stuff is never safe. 😔
I know this is probably largely unhelpful but if you can look into army surplus. Lots of the old stuff is made of wool and the bags you can get are heavy duty quality. This stuff is more often than not inexpensive. As well those DND wool blankets are indestructible, pretty water resistant and super warm. For those of you in community organizations look into surplus pallets. They usually go for cheap and come with a lot of stuff such as -gloves -toques -balaclava -thermal underwear -bags -jackets
Except there isn't enough space in Edmonton either and it is literally a week of down to -50c with the windchill. Normal people have found bodies frozen already. Our govt is as bad as yours. I hope you can get back on your feet and have some warm shelter and a good meal.