The deplorable situation taking place on the street in front of a City shelter referral centre at Peter and Richmond Streets in Toronto, received some much need help. Refugees and asylum seekers (many from Kenya), have been sleeping in the streets- some for three months or more- while Federal, Provincial and City governments argue over where the responsibility lies.
On July 17th a coalition led by the Black Community Housing Advisory Table whose mandate is to “address the challenges experienced by Black residents to secure affordable housing” stepped up to provide shelter for 200 people in the Revivaltime Tabernacle church in North York. Pastor Judith James said she was “heartbroken” when she saw a video of the scene and offered to help.
James. Pastor and founder of the Beautiful Foundation. along with volunteers, organized busses to bring the people to the church where they were supplied with cots, blankets and sleeping bags. The men were housed in the gym, the women in the basement. Many expressed gratitude for finally having a roof over their heads and a bed to sleep in.
A press conference was held earlier in the day. Among those speaking was the Hon. Jean Augustine who said the situation was “deplorable” and urged governments to make decisions quicker in the future and said that people were sleeping in conditions she compared to a zoo on the side of the road. Also attending was former Ontario MPP Zanana Akande who commented on the lack of government response. People living on the street “in all kinds of weather and the heat and the rain and whatever, while governments consider how they were going to manage it is unconscionable”, she said.
New Federal funding of $97M has just been announced and although welcomed by Mayor Olivia Chow as a “first step”, she says more needs to be done.
Meanwhile a large group of volunteers are busily working at the church, arranging shower schedules and whatever else is needed. Although this is a temporary situation it is a hopeful one for the many who have fled their homes looking for a better life for themselves and their children.
