Two new 24-hour drop-in centres will be available to Toronto’s most vulnerable this winter and an additional 135 beds will be added across the shelter system.
The centers, which run off city funding but are managed by non-for-profits, will be open to the public from Nov. 15 to April 15.
Unlike last year, where the prolonged winter chill left many of the city’s homeless in the lurch, all of the shelters will remain open through to early spring.
“The biggest change this year is that we are really extending the winter season to cover the entire winter, so they are going to open up on Nov. 15 and run right through April 15 in 2018,” Paul Raftis, the general manager of Shelter, Support and Housing Administration at the city, told CP24 on Friday.
“There were some of these services available last year 24 hours a day for a section of the winter but not the entire season. This year we are increasing the number of spaces and the length (of time they are available).”
The centres will provide approximately 250 new beds to the city-run shelter system.
Of this year’s new additions, 60 beds will open at the Salvation Army program for men in Leslieville and another 63 at Seaton House, located downtown.
Overall, the city will spend approximately $7 million this year on what they're calling winter respite services.
“They will provide sleeping spaces, meals, welcoming service and really importantly, housing supports as well,” Raftis said.
“We’ve been growing the shelter system over the last couple of years. So back in 2015 we had about 4,200 emergency shelter beds and now we have increased that, by the end of this year we’ll be at about 5,600 shelter beds available.”
Raftis added that some people don’t feel comfortable visiting city-run shelters, which emphasizes the need for the five drop-in centres.
“That’s why it’s important to put forward these five winter respite sites, to make sure that those individuals that wouldn’t traditionally go to the shelter, they have a safe place to go during the winter,” he said.
Along with the opening of additional spaces, Raftis said his team is focused on the “modernization” of access and availability of information related to support services.
‘Homeless Help,’ an up-to-date online listing of emergency services for the homeless, is one way the city is trying to head in that direction.
It currently can be found on the City of Toronto’s website but will eventually be available as an app. The site offers regularly updated information on drop-in and shelter availability, where to find free hot meals, clothing and housing information
“It provides really key information to people on the street, not only people experiencing homelessness but also the general public if they see someone on the street that might need assistance,” Mary-Anne Bedard, the city’s director of Service Planning and Integrity.
Bedard said the site is “map based” and able to populate and locate the nearest available services using location-based data.
She said she’s seen a “large increase” of people living under these circumstances who have access to the internet and electronic devices.
“It’s the main way that people connect back to housing and also to employment,” Bedard said.
“We’re working to make free phones available as well, we’ve had some donations. So we’ll be distributing those to people as well. There’s also quite a large network of Wi-Fi that is available that people typically use out in the community as well as libraries, places like that.”
