Toronto's Shelter and Housing Justice Network is reporting that more than 30 names will be added to the homeless memorial at the Church of the Holy Trinity, a record number for the city.
According to the organization's recent press release, the city had a sharp increase in homeless deaths, attributing to the lack of affordable housing, increasing drug overdose incidents and the lack of essential workers to address these ongoing concerns.
To honour those that passed away in the month of November, the network held a vigil in front of Holy Trinity church, where friends and families were invited to speak about their loved ones.
In response to the spike in homeless deaths, the Shelter and Housing Justice Network has made six demands to the City of Toronto government to help address the city’s homeless crisis.
The demands are:
- City council must immediately strike a task force charged with taking all reasonable
steps to reduce such deaths. - Immediately expand overdose prevention, education, training and implement the
recommendations of Toronto Shelter-Hotel Overdose Preparedness Assessment
Project. - Immediately incorporate 2,250 permanent, non-congregate shelter beds into the
system. - Repeal the ‘no camping’ bylaw.
- Increase the target of newly attributed housing allowances in 2021 from 1,440 to
3,000. - Freeze all evictions with the emergency powers of the Emergency Management and
Civil Protection Act.
As the winter months get colder, the network says that shelter spaces and safe injection sites continue to be limited both by the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortage of essential staff for these faculities.
Further, the no camping bylaw has severely affected individuals that used public parks and spaces as shelter prior to the summer months.
Starting in May, several encampments around Trinity Bellwoods Park, Alexandria Park, Moss Park and Lamport Stadium were dismantled by the city and Toronto police.
The evictions in Trinity Bellwoods and Lamport Stadium were criticized heavily by several homeless advocacy groups across the city as violent clashes between police officers and protesters were caught on video and tents were forcibly destroyed.
The network published its full winter plan sent to Toronto Mayor John Tory and all city councillors on Oct.12.
Read the full plan here.
Listen to CJRU's coverage of the latest SHJN memorial (Dec. 14) here: