Toronto has about 10,000 homeless people per night. Reasons behind this social stigma are diverse — some people have no savings, employment, mental health so they ended up living on the streets. Homeless people reflect the dark side of our society because they lack safe housing, stable jobs, and enough income to cope with Toronto’s price. 

It’s tragic that rental costs and housing prices have dramatically increased over the past years. Most homeless people don’t choose to become what they are today they were forced to find an affordable shelter to live. The most cost-efficient and price-friendly place is the streets.

Some homeless people shared their stories to us.

Theresa Hamilton, a 17 years old girl who has very bad anxiety. She comes from Mississauga and has been living at Covenant House for about a year. She said she left her house because she felt like her home was too distressing and painful to stay that no one does chores and goes to school regularly. So, she decided to leave. She is super young. Some people might wonder what she does for money. The answer is that she doesn’t make money, other than $280 every month from Ontario works. She goes to school now because she thinks she needs education. In her tough life, she loves playing piano and painting when she is stressed. Her mental illness is serious so she gets shaky easily and bites her nails often. She said painting is the only method to distract her, and she gave us an example of a smoker chewing gum for smoking less. People might wonder when she wants to move out of the Covenant House. Indeed, she is not able to move out since the housing price in Toronto is super expensive so the shelter is her best choice because it is safe and cheap and helps her to find her own way.

Robbie McLeod, a 19 years old boy whose mom stopped feeding him so he had to leave his home. Her mom threw his food to the dogs. At that moment of life, he grabbed his stuff and left the house. He sleeps on a heat vent on Bay Street, yet he doesn’t like the shelter. He earns money through panhandle and he shares his average $30 income each day. When people ask him what’s the toughest part of being homeless. he responds that it is not super miserable except the cold winter. He is adapting to this homeless lifestyle that he doesn’t plan to move because he cannot afford anything by his own.

We live in decent places. It’s not a big deal to give a little extra help so I collected some ways to help them. The first approach is donating money to some nonprofit organizations whose initial mission is to serve the homeless. Donating items such as winter clothing is the second approach since one of the homeless people said the toughest time is the winter. We also can volunteer our time to pack boxes with food for them.