Service Piece

How To Survive Living in a Toronto Homeless Shelter

Anyone can wind up homeless. According to Canada’s largest youth shelter, Covenant House’s website, “On any given night, some 33,000 Canadians are homeless.” Sometimes things happen in life that are beyond our control that could lead someone to end up in the streets – such as family breakdowns, mental illness, and job losses, where one’s only choice is to stay in a homeless shelter.

There are over 55 homeless shelters in the GTA according to the City of Toronto’s website, where men, women, youth and families have a temporary place to stay so they may re-root their lives and position in the community.

Entering the shelter system can offer those who find themselves homeless many opportunities to better their situation, like a bed to sleep, free meals, and counseling but it’s not just a free ride. Living in a shelter creates its own hurdles.

Amber Rodriquez, a 19 year old who has been in the shelter system for over two years said, “I didn’t know anything about living in a shelter – rules, warnings, shared rooms with no locks, drug addicts, people who talk to themselves. There were so many things that I wasn’t used to that I had to follow through with just to have a place to stay.”

But there are many survival tips to follow to ensure you get the most out of living in a shelter, and make it through this difficult part of your life.

1. Take Advantage of the Resources Available – There are housing, counseling and life skill meetings and workshops offered. “Every resident has a different worker. You meet up with your worker maybe once to twice a week, depends on what you’re meeting up for, like housing, schooling or work.” Said Rodriquez.

2. Stock Up – Shelters have designated meal and snack times. Make sure to take a little extra, because chances are, you’ll be hungry later. Most shelters give out subway tokens in the morning. Even if you aren’t going anywhere that day, make sure to grab them anyway. You may need them another day, or you can sell them. There are many convenient stores around the city that will buy tokens for $250 each. Many shelters also have donations where you may receive free clothes, shoes and necessities.

3. Lock Up Your Belongings – Most shelters provide either closets or lockers to keep your possessions in. “Keep everything in your closet and locked up, because things do get stolen, trust me, you turn around and in five minutes, something is gone.” Said Rodriquez.

4. Make Friends But Keep An ‘Every Man For Himself” Mentality – Timone Taylor, a 23 year old who has been in the shelter system since May of 2010 said, “You meet people you click with, and then you end up getting caught up in their bullshit, and you kinda forget about yourself, which is really bad, because the whole point of you coming to a shelter is to upgrade yourself and make yourself better.”

5. Stay Out Of The Drama – Living in a shared environment, without privacy, with others going through a difficult time is a recipe for drama. There are also many people of all walks of life, race, and religion with different beliefs. It is easy to get sucked into it, but it is best to ignore the tension and arguments, and focus on you.

6. Voice Your Concerns To Staff – Even if you feel like they don’t care, confide in the workers available if you have any issues. If they understand who you are, they will be more likely to be able to give you the help you need.

7. Follow the Rules – “The hardest part about living in a shelter is following the rules.” Said Taylor. There are strict rules that you must follow while staying in a shelter to make sure it runs as smoothly as possible like no violence, making it back for curfew, doing chores, no discrimination, quiet hours, you must be off the floor during the day and no drugs or alcohol on the property. Failure to follow these rules could result in being discharged.

8. Never Give Up – “I am now housed thanks to a program they got me into and I’m thankful for where I am today. Living in a shelter was quite the experience. Whether positive or negative, I’m still here and no longer homeless. “ Said Rodriquez.

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Article in Radix

Students easy targets for Rexdale crime

LISA MACNEILL & SAMANTHA O’CONNOR

Rexdale has a reputation as one of the most dangerous areas in Toronto, but many students who come to Humber College and The University Of Guelph-Humber are not aware of the amount of crime that takes place here on a regular basis.

Rexdale resident and self-proclaimed retired hustler, Stones* said that students are naïve to the amount of crime in the area, and are considered easy targets for robberies and assault because of their lack of streets smarts.

“They [Street involved youth] see these kids, they see food – a bunch of rich kids that don’t know where the hell they are. They don’t know that they’re in the ghetto,” he said

Students face dangers on and off campus everyday, because of where the school is located. In 2005, Toronto’s City Council named the area as one of the GTA’s 13 priority neighbourhoods according to the Pathways Education Network.

“Down here, random stuff will happen, like, people think that bad stuff doesn’t happen to good people, but bad stuff happens to good people,” Stones said.

Many students, they say, have been victim to harassment, assault, and theft since they moved to Rexdale to attend school and over 10 student houses have been robbed in the last two months, according to recent accounts in the neighborhood.

Kristie Greco, a second year Kinesiology student lives in the subdivision across from the campus. Her house has been robbed twice since Thanksgiving.

The latest was around 7pm last Monday night, while Greco and her roommates were out of the house. Whoever broke in came through the bedroom window, and took three Mac laptops, two IPods, and a charging dock. The police were notified but took four hours to arrive at the scene. “Don’t take any suspicious activity too lightly,” said Greco.

Stones also says that the subdivision directly across from Humber doesn’t really count as Rexdale, that there are certain areas that the real thugs live.

“I need to tell you the honest truth, the real guys are seriously in Rexdale, in Martin Grove, Kipling and in Jamestown, they don’t leave those places, you know? They don’t

come to Humber College.” He says although everyone is a target.

Students need to understand that there are differences in lifestyle and mentality between Humber and Guelph-Humber students, and those who have grown up in the area. Stones says that there really isn’t any way to prevent being mugged, that some people rob people just for the sake of robbing, “If someone sees someone, and you have something that they want, it’s gonna get taken… that’s just it.”

For Rexdale residents, gang activity, shootings and robberies are a part of everyday life, according to published estimates. There are seven main Rexdale gangs, with the majority affiliated with the Crips. “Like, some people, everyday they put their books in their bags, some people around here strap a gun to their hip,” Stones said.

An officer from the 23^rd Division who did not want to disclose his name says that students should “know the surroundings, and know whom you’re dealing with” to ensure their safety when leaving campus.

Norah Roberts, a third year Guelph-Humber student studying Public Relations says during her first year in 2008, she had a bad experience.

“I lived on residence, and a bunch of us girls were walking in the subdivision across the road, when two guys started following us. We got a bad feeling, so we started running. Then, they started chasing us. It got really scary, when a car with four more guys started slowly driving beside us, following us. They ended up leaving us alone, but not without scaring us first.”

Local rapper/producer Casper Tha Deadly Ghost was born and raised in the area, and said that if you “be cool, stick to yourself, and act respectful”, you will be less likely to have someone bother you.

Other safety precautions students can take include, walking in open, lit areas, and talking on the phone when they are alone, but this does not guarantee that nothing will happen.

“You can walk confident as much as you want, if someone sees someone, and you have something that they want, it’s gonna get taken,”…”There’s guys out here that take shit just to take shit…It’s different, it could be for anything still, could be for money. I know a guy that robs shit just to rob shit. He has two gat in his pocket just to rob you.”

According to Stones, adding more security guards on campus won’t make much of a difference in terms of student safety. He calls them Robo-Cops.

“What would they have? Batons? You could put more security guards, more cops, it wouldn’t help. People are hustlin’ for money to feed themselves. If they don’t hustle, they don’t eat.”

He says the only thing that will diminish the amount of crime, is an end to poverty, which he doesn’t see ever happening.

The police source agrees that poverty is not coming to an end, and it’s hard for people to avoid criminal acts.

“It’s very hard to live in those neighbourhoods, with a gang mentality and keep on the straight and narrow, despite your best efforts, because you have to worry about yourself the whole time.”

He also urges students to report any illegal activity they see and assures that tips will always be kept anonymous.

Some names have been changed to protect the identity of interviewees, some of whom were known personally by the reportorial team.

Photo Taken by Kayla Cameron-Redyk

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