We demand safe spaces now! Accessible shelters! Affordable, accessible housing for all!
You may already have heard about the November 25 action that OCAP is organizing to demand that the City of Toronto deal with the dangerous crisis of overcrowding within its homeless shelter system. As part of this action, we'll be sending the included open letter to Mayor elect John Tory. We invite you to sign onto this letter.
Dear Mr. Tory:
On December 2, you will become the Mayor of Toronto. By then, we shall be facing the onset of a winter that is predicted to be especially severe and you will be the Chief Magistrate of a city that does not have in place a basic infrastructure to provide even bare shelter for those who are facing homelessness.
Doubtless you will have a fairly substantial 'to do list' in front of you as you take on your new responsibilities but we'd like to suggest that responding to the homeless crisis should be the most urgent priority of all. We say this not simply because lives are at stake, although this is certainly the case with the Homeless Memorial marking three more tragic deaths this month. We also drive home this point because, as far as we are concerned, a City that is ready to abandon human beings to destitution as winter sets in can't be trusted to meet any social needs with any diligence.
The number of street homeless people has gone up by at least 24% since 2009. Over 5,000 people live without any kind of housing in this City and rely on temporary shelter. The failure to respond to this most basic human need has a long and lamentable history in Toronto. The community has spoken out and taken action repeatedly to win small but vital measures of redress. However, politicians andsenior staff have responded only grudgingly and to the least degree possible. It is supposed to be the policy of the City to ensure that shelters do not operate at occupancy rates of above 90% and yet months and months have gone by with this instruction from City Council openly and outrageously ignored. In response to the particularly severe overcrowding in the women's shelters and, following brutal sexual assaults on homeless women, it was decided to open 24 hour drop in space for women and trans people. This, too, has been bureaucratically stalled and we go into winter with nothing in place. We've actually seen the largest increase in homelessness within violence against women's shelters - an increase of 108% since 2006. Our demands address the needs of the homeless in Toronto, but also those who have experienced or are at higher risk of gender based violence and assault.
On November 25, the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we shall be taking public action to demand the City provide adequate shelter in the face of lethal winter conditions. We call for 24 hour drop ins for women and trans homeless people. We call for real beds in shelters and not 'flex' beds. We demand that immigration status not be a consideration in providing shelter or used as a means to deter those in need of it. We demand safe spaces, shelter and decent, affordable and accessible housing for all in this City.
We have no patience for any suggestion that what we call for is unreasonable or 'too expensive'. Next year, the Pan Am Games will come to this City and, if there is money to pay for such circuses, then the resources exist to meet basic human needs and to ensure shelter and housing. Our action on the 25th will include the taking of direct action to press our demands. It may be suggested that this is going to far but we would say in reply that ignoring Council votes and letting people die on the streets is what is really going too far. Those who will not behave with integrity or listen to reason can't be surprised when they are challenged forcefully.
Mr. Tory, we understand that you have not yet taken up your new role and that you will not be in a position to act until you do. Please understand, however, that we are determined to ensure that the most basic human right to shelter from the elements is respected in this City and we will hold you accountable above all others in this regard.
Yours truly,
The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Updates
Reached 500 supporters
November 25, 2014
November 15, 2014
A hundred signatures just popped up on the screen and I honestly had to look twice because it feels like this just started yesterday. It is honestly wild how quickly things move when people start paying attention to the crisis (and the cold) and I am just sitting here staring at the number in total disbelief.
Reached 100 supporters
November 13, 2014
108 Comments
There is absolutely no excuse for the inadequate funding to assist the most marginalized and vulnerable people in our great city. Particularly when the City of Toronto spent (and continues to spend) millions of dollars on the Pan Am Games (which, let's be honest, few people - even sports fans - care about) with virtually no debate.
Toronto does not lack the means to end homelessness and ensure a basic human right, only the will. Let's see if Mr. Tory has the will to live up to his campaign trail rhetoric, or if we're treated to equivocating, excuses and complacency.
With winter coming. homeless people will die in the streets because there are not enough shelter beds. I believe the politicians who fail to provide the needed safe spaces for people to be out of the cold should be held accocuntable for every death on Toronto streets from lack od housing.
We need safe, and accessible shelters for all! During the winter months, shelters are over-packed with having to put some residents on the floor. People with mobility issues do not have many options of where they are able to stay. We need to stop this crazy in-affordable housing crisis now!
My family recetly bought our first home and I feel extremely privilegedto be able to afford a house in Toronto. As a tax payer and a citizen, I want our new mayor and city council to make safe and accessible housing for all a top priority over the next four years.
No one should die on the cold winter streets of Toronto. You must open more shelters for the homeless now.
Stop paying the politicians and bureaucrats their excessive salaries and get the money to those who really need it the most!
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We demand safe spaces now! Accessible shelters! Affordable, accessible housing for all!
You may already have heard about the November 25 action that OCAP is organizing to demand that the City of Toronto deal with the dangerous crisis of overcrowding within its homeless shelter system. As part of this action, we'll be sending the included open letter to Mayor elect John Tory. We invite you to sign onto this letter.
Dear Mr. Tory:
On December 2, you will become the Mayor of Toronto. By then, we shall be facing the onset of a winter that is predicted to be especially severe and you will be the Chief Magistrate of a city that does not have in place a basic infrastructure to provide even bare shelter for those who are facing homelessness.
Doubtless you will have a fairly substantial 'to do list' in front of you as you take on your new responsibilities but we'd like to suggest that responding to the homeless crisis should be the most urgent priority of all. We say this not simply because lives are at stake, although this is certainly the case with the Homeless Memorial marking three more tragic deaths this month. We also drive home this point because, as far as we are concerned, a City that is ready to abandon human beings to destitution as winter sets in can't be trusted to meet any social needs with any diligence.
The number of street homeless people has gone up by at least 24% since 2009. Over 5,000 people live without any kind of housing in this City and rely on temporary shelter. The failure to respond to this most basic human need has a long and lamentable history in Toronto. The community has spoken out and taken action repeatedly to win small but vital measures of redress. However, politicians andsenior staff have responded only grudgingly and to the least degree possible. It is supposed to be the policy of the City to ensure that shelters do not operate at occupancy rates of above 90% and yet months and months have gone by with this instruction from City Council openly and outrageously ignored. In response to the particularly severe overcrowding in the women's shelters and, following brutal sexual assaults on homeless women, it was decided to open 24 hour drop in space for women and trans people. This, too, has been bureaucratically stalled and we go into winter with nothing in place. We've actually seen the largest increase in homelessness within violence against women's shelters - an increase of 108% since 2006. Our demands address the needs of the homeless in Toronto, but also those who have experienced or are at higher risk of gender based violence and assault.
On November 25, the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we shall be taking public action to demand the City provide adequate shelter in the face of lethal winter conditions. We call for 24 hour drop ins for women and trans homeless people. We call for real beds in shelters and not 'flex' beds. We demand that immigration status not be a consideration in providing shelter or used as a means to deter those in need of it. We demand safe spaces, shelter and decent, affordable and accessible housing for all in this City.
We have no patience for any suggestion that what we call for is unreasonable or 'too expensive'. Next year, the Pan Am Games will come to this City and, if there is money to pay for such circuses, then the resources exist to meet basic human needs and to ensure shelter and housing. Our action on the 25th will include the taking of direct action to press our demands. It may be suggested that this is going to far but we would say in reply that ignoring Council votes and letting people die on the streets is what is really going too far. Those who will not behave with integrity or listen to reason can't be surprised when they are challenged forcefully.
Mr. Tory, we understand that you have not yet taken up your new role and that you will not be in a position to act until you do. Please understand, however, that we are determined to ensure that the most basic human right to shelter from the elements is respected in this City and we will hold you accountable above all others in this regard.
Yours truly,
The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Updates
Reached 500 supporters
November 25, 2014
November 15, 2014
A hundred signatures just popped up on the screen and I honestly had to look twice because it feels like this just started yesterday. It is honestly wild how quickly things move when people start paying attention to the crisis (and the cold) and I am just sitting here staring at the number in total disbelief.
Reached 100 supporters
November 13, 2014
108 Comments
Despite sensitivy trainings and trying to address oppressions, shelters and drop-ins remain unsafe spaces for people of marginalized identities. Women are sexually harrassed, queer and trans folks are shunned and bullied, and people of colour experience racism. Toronto needs the opportunity to create really intentional spaces that are more successful in creating safety.
There is absolutely no excuse for the inadequate funding to assist the most marginalized and vulnerable people in our great city. Particularly when the City of Toronto spent (and continues to spend) millions of dollars on the Pan Am Games (which, let's be honest, few people - even sports fans - care about) with virtually no debate.
Toronto does not lack the means to end homelessness and ensure a basic human right, only the will. Let's see if Mr. Tory has the will to live up to his campaign trail rhetoric, or if we're treated to equivocating, excuses and complacency.
With winter coming. homeless people will die in the streets because there are not enough shelter beds. I believe the politicians who fail to provide the needed safe spaces for people to be out of the cold should be held accocuntable for every death on Toronto streets from lack od housing.
We need safe, and accessible shelters for all! During the winter months, shelters are over-packed with having to put some residents on the floor. People with mobility issues do not have many options of where they are able to stay. We need to stop this crazy in-affordable housing crisis now!
My family recetly bought our first home and I feel extremely privilegedto be able to afford a house in Toronto. As a tax payer and a citizen, I want our new mayor and city council to make safe and accessible housing for all a top priority over the next four years.
No one should die on the cold winter streets of Toronto. You must open more shelters for the homeless now.
Stop paying the politicians and bureaucrats their excessive salaries and get the money to those who really need it the most!
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Despite sensitivy trainings and trying to address oppressions, shelters and drop-ins remain unsafe spaces for people of marginalized identities. Women are sexually harrassed, queer and trans folks are shunned and bullied, and people of colour experience racism. Toronto needs the opportunity to create really intentional spaces that are more successful in creating safety.