Accessing Safe Shelter Spaces
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
The Mary Ward Centre has partnered with Crisis in Our City to support those experiencing homelessness. In mid-March the Better Living Centre, which acted as a 24/7 respite centre, shut down due to an existing agreement with FIFA organizers requiring the space to prepare for the World Cup. Moreover, recently, there has been the violent displacement and harassment of unhoused people by security and police who are trying to “clean up” Toronto’s image for incoming tourists and media. Read the CBC article sharing that "the Toronto Underhoused and Homeless Union (TUHU) interviewed 45 unhoused people at Union Station in the last six weeks… It says roughly 90 percent of respondents reported either witnessing or experiencing 'security violence' firsthand."
Reflect on this compelling article written by Shula Katz from Crisis in Our City, on how we are called to advocate for systemic change in housing justice:
Crisis in Our City did not start as a homelessness organization. It began as a human response to a human emergency.
When the African refugee crisis in 2023 brought thousands of people to Toronto’s doorstep, it was not the government that moved first. It was faith communities, ordinary neighbours, and places of worship, including mosques, churches, and synagogues, that opened their doors and said simply: these are people, and they need help. What was meant to be a temporary response to an urgent moment slowly revealed something that could not be ignored. The emergency did not end. It shape-shifted. The people we were supporting were not just refugees. They were joining a growing population of people falling through the cracks of a city and a system that was struggling to hold them.
What we witnessed mirrored what Canadians had seen before. When COVID-19 swept through this country, it did not affect everyone equally. Seniors, racialized communities and people from historically marginalized neighbourhoods were hit first and hardest. The pandemic did not create those inequalities. It exposed them. It showed us, in real time, what happens when systems are built without everyone in mind, whether by design or by neglect.
The African refugee crisis revealed similar patterns. We saw governments act quickly and compassionately to establish pathways and support systems for refugees fleeing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. These responses were both appropriate and essential. However, when community organizers met with government officials to discuss the needs of refugees from African countries, the questions that arose were revealing. Instead of asking, “What do these people need?” the focus was on “How are they entering?” When questions arose about extending similar support to these communities, officials responded that these groups were categorized differently because they might someday return home. This implies that the hope of returning to a stable homeland is a privilege for some refugees but not others. Every refugee carries that same hope. The way they are received upon arrival depends less on their circumstances and more on whether the systems designed for them consider their needs.
Read the complete article.
