Where do we go from here?

Now that they are here, what do we do with them? How do we help? These questions have been more in the forefront of my mind than ever before as I’m now more aware of just how many there are. In the morning as I exit the subway at Queen Street station, I see one at the top of the escalator, another just behind, one more as I go up the next set of stairs to take me to street level and another at the top of those stairs. I then have to walk about 3 blocks to my office located on Queen Street between Church and Jarvis. Just beyond the office there are three shelters and the famous Moss Park. I was given a wake-up call as I went from my office to the local Dollaramma to run an errand as to just how many homeless are in the area. It’s pretty bad when the store has to hire a security guard to keep down on the amount of theft happening in the store. Although they are everywhere in Toronto they seem to inhabit more inside Moss Park area in Old Toronto.

I found an interesting article in Wikepedia about the area and it stated, “Moss Park is a residential neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The area known as Moss Park is typically considered to be between Jarvis Street and Parliament Street south of Dundas, an area dominated by public housing projects. According to one set of boundaries of the City of Toronto it is roughly L-shaped, bounded on the north by Carlton Street to Parliament Street, on the east by Parliament Street to Queen Street East and the Don River, on the south by Eastern Avenue and Front Street, and on the west by Jarvis Street. This larger, view of the neighbourhood includes the neighbourhoods known as Corktown and the Garden District and a portion of Cabbagetown. Moss Park is named for the abundant moss that grew on the Allen family estate home, which stood on the west side of Sherbourne between Queen and Shuter until demolished during the 'urban renewal' redevelopment of the area into a housing project with a large park and community centre on the site of the old estate.

Moss Park was originally the heart of Toronto's industrial area, home to large factories and the densely packed homes of the workers they employed. In the 1960s a large swath of these buildings were demolished to make way for the Moss Park public housing project, a group of three large towers at Queen and Parliament Street run by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation. After the deindustrialization of the 1970s almost all the factories left the area, and it became one of the poorest in the city. In recent years the area has seen rapid gentrification. Former industrial structures such as the Merchandise Building and factories of the Distillery District have become trendy lofts and fashionable shopping areas. The row houses of Corktown, like those of nearby Cabbagetown, have also largely been refurbished and are in great demand.

This is the low income apartment buildings close to Moss Park. Many families live in fear of the area and the crime associated with it, however they can not afford housing elsewhere and have no where else to go.

" The area immediately around the housing complex remains quite poor, and this is the area today typically meant when referring to Moss Park. This neighbourhood is almost exclusively rented out, and houses many low-income families. According to Toronto Life "Moss Park has long had a reputation among Torontonians as a notoriously downtrodden and dangerous neighbourhood." It is home to several homeless shelters.”

Where can they go?

The Salvation Army is well represented in this area with numerous shelters flanking Moss Park and the Surrounding area. Salvation Army Harbour Light is at 160 Jarvis St, Salvation Army at 135 Sherbourne St, Maxwell Meighen Centre located at 135 Sherbourne St and The Salvation Army Gateway located at 107 Jarvis St. There are a few more at 77 River St, 312 Broadview Ave and 723 Queen W. Very soon we will be seeing the Santa helpers with the red kettles as the holidays approach, it is their biggest fundraiser of the year to help support the thousands they help each year.

Other temporary lodging, meals and help for the abused or mentally ill can be found at Covenant House, Raising the Roof, Red Door Family Shelter, Youth Without Shelter, Eva's Phoenix, Good Shepherd Ministries, Woodgreen Red Door Family Shelter, Sojourn House, Matthew House, YWCA 1st Stop Woodlawn (women), Seaton House, Dixon Hall, Eva's Satellite, Yonge Street Mission, Yonge Street Mission Evergreen, Toronto City Mission and Scott Mission.

All of these organizations are available to help people get back on their feet. That is, if they want to. It seems that most of the population that are on the street are subject to using drug, alcohol, smoking and in order to facilitate those habits, beg for money or commit crime to get it by way of theft, prostitution, selling of drugs etc. Use of drugs especially is half the reason for the breakdowns, mental illness and unstableness that surrounds them. It’s shocking to see some before and after of what drugs do to the human body. 

There are some reforms and new blood coming into this area. Multiple condos are going up in the area with the hopes of cleaning up the neighbourhood. These new developments and their locations are on the map.

The unfortunate part is that these changes are slow in the making and we as the working class have to deal on a daily basis with being asked for money, begged for food, rubbed up against, hit, spit on and so forth depending on the mental state of the individual you are dealing with. I am becoming more desensitized of seeing people urinating in bus shelters and on buildings as I pass or listening to people fighting over money and drugs. I’ve tuned it out. Strapped on my earphones attached to my Ipod to tune it all out. Keep eyes straight ahead, up or towards the ground in order to try and avoid making eye contact. In some ways to the on looker I’ve become like the ones I thought were cold hearted and didn’t care about other human beings around them that are struggling to survive. I know in my heart I’m not, as I try to do what I can to help them. An extra hash brown when I treat myself to breakfast is given away. Spare change to musicians trying to make a living for themselves and trying to provide entertainment for others to enjoy on their way to and from work. 

What can we do to help?



I’m helping to organize food drives at work and to gather winter essentials of hats, mitts, scarves, socks, old blankets and sleeping bags to distribute to those I see on the street. I’m also gathering items easily purchased from the dollar store of toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, razors, nuts and mints. Anyone interested in donating items to this cause, please message me here or email me at catherinelazure@rogers.com.

Together we can make a difference to those that need our help

#homeless #helping others #community

Moss Park Photo recognition – Map –

By SimonP - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6844311

Buildings -

By I, SimonP, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2522768

Moss Park Estate-

By Owen Staples - Evening Telegram, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6974489