'With lives on the line this winter,' faith leaders urge Toronto to open more warming centre spaces

Faith leaders are calling on the City of Torontoto open more spaces in its warming centres this winter, saying unhoused people should not be shut out in the cold.

"This is a very easy fix," Rev. Alexa Gilmour, founder and national director of the Stone Soup Network, told CBC Toronto this week.

"There are buildings empty downtown. There are churches empty downtown. There are government spaces empty downtown. Most of us are working from home. We could do this."

On Jan. 5, two days before an unhoused man died in a fatal fire in Liberty Village, about150 faith leadersdelivered a letter to Toronto Mayor John Tory and city councillors demanding an emergency meeting in January about homelessness.

The demand comes as the city's own data shows nearly 9,000 people were using its shelter system as recently as Monday and that the system turnedmore than 100 people away nightlyover the month of December. It also comes as a city council committee is to meet Wednesday to consider shutting down up to five shelter hotels in 2023.

Theleaders wantthe warming centres to be open around the clock andhave started an online petitionto gain support.

"With lives on the line this winter, people are depending on the city to do more," the letter reads."We need more room in our hearts for the poor and unhoused."

Tory has not yet said if he will meet with the faith leaders about warming centres.

Alexa said deaths of unhoused people are unacceptable and the letter is a call to action.

"This kind of weather causes injury, causes mental distress, causes death," Gilmour said.

The call for more warming centres is also one of five demands that will be presented to the Toronto Board of Health on Monday in the form of a separate joint open letter by two advocacy groups, the Shelter Housing and Justice Network and Health Providers Against Poverty. The letter isaddressed to the city's board of health, economic and community development committee, city council and Tory.

Lorraine Lam, an outreach worker and a member of Shelter and HousingJustice Network, said advocates have collected more than 900 signatures for the open letter in less than 24 hours.

"People have literally nowhere to go," she said. "We're at a breaking point and the city needs to do something different. We are really pushing forthe warming centres to open 24/7 all winter. People have no options."

Lam said the advocacy groups want the city to ensure there are 250 spaces at its Metro Hall warming centre, located at 55 John St., which now has45 spaces. The other two warming centres are at the Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Dr., and Mitchell Field Community Centre, 89 Church Ave.

Dr. Maggie Hulbert, a resident physician and co-chair of Health Providers Against Poverty, said unhoused people are going tohospital emergency departments because they are cold and cannot securea shelter bed.

"We really feel like there is a danger and we are reaching the final safety net for a lot of people who do not have access to a home," she said.

Talks ongoing for4th warming centre, city says

The city, for its part, said in an email about warming centres this week that "negotiations on a fourth location are ongoing and details will be announced shortly."

It added: "Changes to how frequently warming centres are open would have cost implications and would require discussion by and direction from city council."

As it stands, warming centres are generally activated by Toronto's medical officer of health, based on a forecast of 15 C or colder, or a wind chill of 20 C or colder. The city currently operates three warming centres with a capacity of 112 people.

On Wednesday, the city's economic and community development committee is scheduled to look a city staff report that recommends the closure of up to five shelter hotels in 2023. Threesuch temporary sites were closed in 2022, occupancy was reduced at a fourth andthe lease for a fifth ended but space at a nearby location is being provided, according to the city.

The report notes, among other things, that 700 to 800 people have become homeless every month in Toronto since the summer of 2021.

According to data on the city'sDaily Shelter andOvernight Service Usagewebpage, a total of 8,904 people used its shelter system on Monday.

And according to the city's Shelter System Requests for Referrals webpage, an average of 108people wereturned away night from shelters last month.

Gilmour said the faith leaders want a more compassionate approach by the city to the complex issue of homelessness.

"We are disappointed to see the closing of the shelter hotels and the cruel evictions of encampments and the destruction of people's survival gear.Until the city has safe affordable options for housing every individual, we believe it is unconscionable to evict people from public spaces and trash their tents and winter gear," the letter reads.

"We are demanding an immediate stop to this practice."