Toronto shelters that are already being pushed to their limits are preparing to take on even more to address the expected increase in demand that comes with colder winter weather.
Shelters such as Covenant House on Gerrard Street East and Good Shepherd Ministries on Queen Street East are among those bolstering services ahead of the drop in temperatures.
Covenant House, which supports youth who are at-risk or experiencing homelessness, will be converting its on-site gym to an emergency respite site with 30 beds. If space permits, the shelter could potentially push that number to 45 beds.
The shelter is also planning on expanding the hours for its drop-in program where nutritious meals and warm clothing is provided to those in need.
The Good Shepherd Ministries is in the process of creating its winter plan, which includes staff training on how to support clients on-site — and how to redirect people to other shelters if capacity is reached. The charity is also collecting winter clothing donations from the public.
“We'll start to make sure that we have supplies we need on location as early as possible because we don't know exactly when the extreme weather will hit,” Good Shepherd Ministries executive director Aklilu Wendaferew told TorontoToday.
Covenant House executive director Mark Aston said Toronto’s shelter system has already been operating close to a “crisis level” throughout the year.
“In other words, at Covenant House, all our residential beds are full,” Aston explained. “That is true pretty much across the shelter system in Toronto.”
Aston said the shelter regularly sees at-risk youth being directed to the adult shelter system where they do not have access to youth-specific services.
He said the key challenge this winter will be serving more youth, with his biggest concern being the large number of young newcomers, such as refugees and asylum seekers, ill-equipped to tackle the cold.
“They simply don't have the right clothes for the winter,” Aston said. “The temperatures in Ontario in the winter are tough and if you're stuck outside on a bad night, it's injurious to your health, whether that's frostbite or something worse.”
For Wendaferew, the biggest concern is the shelter having to turn away people who don’t have anywhere else to go.
“The biggest challenge for us is having clients that we cannot accommodate and finding safe, warm locations for clients,” he explained.
However, Wendaferew is optimistic the city will have enough shelter space to support those in need this winter, based on his experience in previous years.
The city revealed its winter plans for the shelter system last week, which includes the opening of 1,200 new shelter and housing spaces from Nov. 15 to April 15, and 200 spaces at emergency warming centres across Toronto.
City staff said more than 12,200 people are supported across shelters or bridging hotels on a nightly basis — but upwards of 200 individuals are left without a bed every day.
Both Aston and Wendaferew said homelessness is an issue that must be addressed by everyone.
“It is not the responsibility of one specific section of society or government,” Wendaferew said. “It's imperative that we support agencies that support the homeless and the disadvantaged, specifically in winter.”
Aston said while donations are always needed, Torontonians can also help shelters and agencies assisting those experiencing homelessness by advocating for continued governmental support and volunteering with local charities.
“There's a huge amount of work to be done, and frankly, we can't do it without community support,” Aston said.
