A glance at homelessness in Toronto

“I get up, I beg for change, I get through my day. If you’re homeless anywhere in this world, you’ll know that no one likes a beggar. Get your five minutes of warmth and get out.”

Jason is a familiar face to many people around the Ryerson campus. His matted long hair, stained clothes, and piles of bags would assume to draw the attention of the hundreds of people who walk past him every day. In reality though, he's rendered invisible.

Jason's history consists of a series of unfortunate events. What began with substance abuse and diagnoses of schizophrenia and amnesia later led to divorce, financially kicking Jason to the curb. He has been homeless for over nine years now.

“When you’ve gone through some of the things you’ve gone through, you realize that sometimes you set goals so far ahead of yourself, that it’s come down to second by second,” he says explaining his survival.

Homelessness in the city has been a growing problem. According to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, Toronto alone consists of over 5,000 homeless people today. With little support from a society that has historically stigmatized mental health, individuals who are homeless for similar reasons to Jason’s have become invisible. The homeless say they have much trouble getting access to mainstream healthcare, mostly due to not being taken seriously. As a result, those living on the streets have very few options to turn to when in need, especially once the temperatures start to drastically drop.

Al is another homeless man who feels a distinct separation from society. “We’re just a different class of people, you know what I mean? Most people look down on us."

According to Street Health, a non-profit agency that assists homeless people in Toronto, barriers preventing these individuals from accessing mainstream healthcare include societal stigma. Street Health provides its clients with not only physical services, but mental well-being services as well, all at no cost.

Joyce Rankin, the clinical manager at Street Health says the organization provides supplies that range from sleeping bags to hats and gloves. Aside from equipment, it also provides programs, such as nursing, harm reduction, and safe identification to its members.

“You know we’re not actually really loved by the city. The city wants to try and encourage people to go into the outer-cold shelters, which is great, but if you actually go into the shelter system, you realize that it’s not a very nice place to be." She says safety issues in shelter homes are a major problem, particularly for women. Rankin says that Street Health’s goal is to provide individuals with the support needed to live wherever they spend their time, rather than sending them somewhere else.

Often, individuals on the streets are not capable of affording medical treatment, or secure housing, due to loss of status. With limited status comes limited resources, and so, during the harsh winters Toronto’s homeless have been left to fight serious illnesses, which in several cases, lead to death. Street Health says that people on the streets of the city die much younger than the average population.

Al says he uses many of Street Health’s services to maintain survival in Toronto. The shelter systems in the city have proven to be nowhere near perfect, with issues such as being overcrowded, unhygienic, and dangerous. Jason says that although agencies like Street Health do assist with survival, nothing can truly prepare him and the other individuals living on the streets for what’s to come when the temperatures drop. “I really don’t have a plan for the winter. Survival, you know what I mean? And that’s it.”