There’s something anyone can do to ease the pain and isolation of the homeless, said Mike Burnett, community education specialist at Youth Without Shelter. And it doesn’t cost a cent.
“People often ask me if they should give money or food to people on the street,” Burnett said. “I tell them neither if not possible. But at least look them in the eyes, make them feel like a human being.”
Youth Without Shelter, in the Albion Road-Kipling Avenue area, opened in 1986, formed by a group of teachers and counsellors to help students struggling with a variety of issues. The spirit is alive today, and so is the need.
“You walk in the doors you see this indie-style cafe that greets you with different programming,” Burnett said. “We’ve shifted from an emergency response place to a full circle of care.”
One of those programs is the stay-in-school residence, a 20-bed long-term transitional housing program for youths who want to continue their studies in a safe environment.
“I remember a young boy asked me once, If I go to bed will I wake up with my shoes still there,” Burnett said.
“It was his first time at a shelter,” he said.
Youths dealing with homelessness are often hesitant to trust, and it takes patience to develop relationship, Burnett said.
“We watched the Olympics together, the Leafs finally making the playoffs, and getting eliminated by Boston, I’m crying in the corner while everybody celebrates,” Burnett said.
“It’s not a shelter, it’s a home.”
Melody Li, executive director at Homeless Connect Toronto, was working as a teacher in downtown Toronto when it became clear some of her students faced challenges beyond academics.
“It’s not just about going to school, it’s about having breakfast. It’s about having support at home,” she said.
Li started Homeless Connect Toronto in 2013 after a trip to visit friends who were volunteers at the Edmonton branch of the organization. It was founded in San Francisco in 1998 and now has more than 200 locations across North America.
“The model was the first thing I noticed,” she said. “I thought it was really great.”
Homeless Connect Toronto is an event-based organization that connects people struggling with homelessness and other challenges with the services they need.
“When people come to our events, they’re surprised, because the image that they have of someone homeless, doesn’t match who they see in the crowd,” Li said.
Youth homelessness increased by 10 per cent since 2018, according to the 2021 Street Needs Assessment.
Li has ambitions for a youth-specific version of the organization focused on connecting youth with services.
“Because we’re not a youth-focused organization. It took a long time for us to gain their trust,” Li said.
For many of the youth, it’s not necessarily about the services rather the relationships they develop with someone working there or with a friend who’s using the services.
For Matthew Braithwaite, CEO at Blue Door, formerly known as Blue Door Shelters, dropping the word Shelters from the name is more than a style change.
“Shelter has a negative connotation,” said Braithwaite. “If you said, ‘I’m going to put a shelter in your neighbourhood’, people would lose their mind. But if it’s emergency housing, that changes everything.”
Blue Door began in 1982 and is the largest emergency housing provider in the York Region, based on Highway 11 in East Gwillimbury,.
“The usual stereotype of a homeless person is dirty, big-bearded, and begging for change,“ said Braithwaite “And so if you’re 16 to 25, you’re like, ‘I’m not like that, I’m not that guy.’”
Many youth experiencing homelessness are embarrassed by their situation and try to be as unnoticeable as possible, but appearance doesn’t tell the whole story.
“They avoid shelters, many of them walk around all night and then you’ll see them sleeping in school,” Braithwaite said. “People will judge them as a lazy kid.”
“But they’re wrong, that’s the first time that kid felt safe all day, they’re exhausted because they’re scared to close their eyes at night,” Braithwaite said.
Shelters are not the long-term answer, he said. The solutions are more complex and inter-related.
“It’s all about providing opportunities and making sure we fix broken systems, homelessness is a solvable problem,” Braithwaite said.