TAKE SHELTER! Opening Up Metro Hall as Emergency Shelter: NO MORE HOMELESS DEATHS

TAKE SHELTER!

Opening Up Metro Hall as Emergency Shelter: NO MORE HOMELESS DEATHS

Thursday, March 7th

11.00 AM

Metro Hall: King and John St, Toronto

The City of Toronto refuses to admit that the homeless shelter system is

in a lethal crisis of overcrowding. By the City's own admission, shelters

are operating at 96% capacity. This means conditions of overcrowding and

tension - people are being forced onto the streets and lives are being

lost. Every effort has been made to convince both the administration and

politicians to act and open an emergency facility, but they have refused.

On February 20th, City Council refused even to debate the issue.

In 1999, the City gave Hostel Services the right to open more space

whenever the capacity in the shelters exceeded 90%. During that year,

Metro Hall was opened for a time so that the pressure on the rest of the

shelter system could be eased. Today the crisis is even worse - and the

Rob Ford administration is not only denying it, but making it worse. There

have been at least 8 homeless deaths since the beginning of 2013, and 34

deaths in 2012 alone.

If the City will not act then we will. On March 7, we are going back to

Metro Hall to open it as a shelter ourselves. We are calling on all

homeless people - those of you on the streets - who need shelter to join

us that day, as well as front-line workers, unions, community

organizations, church congregations and people of conscience to come and

stand with us for the basic human right to shelter. If you are someone who

does not wish to live in a City where people are abandoned to die on the

streets, then join us on March 7!

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT/GET INVOLVED:

-Help us get the word out, join us on the day! Forward this announcement

to everyone you can, drop off flyers at every drop-in space and meal.

-Have your organization or union local write a public statement supporting

opening up Metro Hall as emergency shelter space

-Collect and drop off donations on the day. We need: Sleeping bags,

Blankets and pillows, Mats or mattresses

-On the day we will also welcome donations of: Coffee and snacks, Order

pizza and other meals for us, Books, board games, music and performances,

etc

Please call our office at (416) 925-6939 if you can help with these items

or, better yet, drop by Metro Hall at 11.00 AM on Thursday and deliver

them to us.

Thank you for all support and solidarity in this vital action.

See information about past events on this issue here:

http://www.ocap.ca/node/1061

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/278184258978285/

The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)

www.ocap.ca

@OCAPtoronto

416-925-6939

For March 7th use: #TakeShelter #nohomelessdeaths

Homeless Left out in the Storm for Lack of Shelter

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

This past Monday, a severe storm hit Toronto that claimed at least one

life.   It is now clear that many homeless were left outside to fend for

themselves during this extreme weather.  According to reports, people were

turned away from the city shelter referral centre on Peter St, after being

told there wass 'no space', while another 140 people slept on the floor of

the referral centre itself.

Ward 27 Councillor, Kristyn Wong Tam has said that she is 'looking into'

why there were no spaces.  That's a good question and we can help her with

the answer.  There are not enough shelter spaces in this city thanks to

the efforts of the city itself.  Over the last 10 years, we have lost

hundreds of shelter beds especially in the Dundas-Sherbourne area where

the need is especially acute.

While Wong-Tam attempts to present herself as a champion of the homeless,

just this past June she voted in favour of closing down the School House

shelter, a city owned space on George St. 55 beds will be lost in this

closure, specifically harm reduction beds for those who drink. On

Wednesday, November 14th the issue of the School House Shelter will be

brought back to City Hall for a final report on how the money that should

be spent keeping the shelter open, will instead be re-shuffled away from

providing shelter spaces at all.

Monday night's incident should serve as an alarm bell with the winter

season only a few weeks away. Shelters are operating at capacity and no

new spaces are being opened up. The church based Out-of-the-Cold program

is never enough to meet the needs. The City is responsible for all of its

residents, including the homeless. Wong-Tam and all of City Council are

responsible for a loss of permanent shelter infrastructure in this City

that left people out in the cold this week and every other week of the

year.

OCAP is fighting the closure of the School House shelter and we demand

more and better services for poor and homeless people in this city. We

will not sit by and watch the doors of a shelter be closed in a priority

neighborhood while people are at risk of freezing to death on the streets.

Those responsible for putting peoples lives at risk will be held

accountable and, if the City fails to act, the community will act

independently to open shelter space for those who need it.

Fact-Sheet on the School House Shelter: http://www.ocap.ca/node/1020

Contact for further comment or information:

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
www.ocap,ca / ocap@tao.ca / 416-925-6939