It’s been six months since Toronto’s city council declared a homelessness emergency, and now with temperatures expected to drop below -5 C, the city has opened three warming centres meant to alleviate the pressure on the shelter system.
The warming centres are located downtown at 75 Elizabeth St., in North York at Willow Baptist Church at 15 Olive Ave., and in Scarborough at St. John the Divine Anglican Church at 885 Scarborough Golf Club Rd.
MPP Lisa Gretzky, the NDP poverty and homelessness reduction critic, said it’s encouraging to see people volunteering to help the homeless community.
“It is great when people step up and if the independent community steps up and they want to fill a gap when they see the need is there, that people need housing or people need access to meals and bathroom and showers and access to taking care of their hygiene,” Gretzky said.
The warming centres are part of a broader Winter Services plan aimed at providing resources and services for homeless people during the winter.
According to the City of Toronto, the plan includes 180 spaces in the shelter system, a 24-hour respite center with capacity for about 40 people, street outreach and additional surge spaces for when temperatures reach -15 C. The plan also includes 275 housing opportunities through new supportive homes and available social housing units.
In a statement emailed to Humber News, a Toronto spokesperson said future changes can be made to the Winter Services plan as needed.
“The Winter Services plan may evolve as we monitor demand for warming centres and continue to search for approved locations to add capacity.”
The Toronto shelter system currently turns away about 273 people each night, according to data collected from the city’s central intake line.
While Gretzky said the Winter Services plan is a step in the right direction, she also said more needs to be done.
“But at the end of the day the government needs to do more than just support all of these people, and the municipality and the agency that are creating these shelter places that are grossly underfunded too,” Gretzky said.