WHAT WHO WHEN WHERE & WHY ?

YET ANOTHER SHELTER STUDY!

Just to reiterate the points made in the telephone conversation with Glen Brown, one of the researchers reviewing Seaton House, Maxwel Meighen and the Good Shepherd.

The issue between the shelters you study and their host community is NOT communications. It is a system gone amok where greed, incompetence and indifference reign supreme. To eliminate them will take more than talk or yet another study.

The welfare system needs a major overhaul - there are too many agencies in the private, public and non-profits sectors competing for services to the needy. Yet, there is no solid date base identifying the needy, their needs and effective approaches to address those needs. As a result, we waste resources that are being allocated by the federal, provincial and municipal governments on an unprecedented scale and with no strings attached. There is duplication, outdated thinking and total disregard for the regulatory restrictions these services come under. In short, the welfare system clings to discredited ideologies, failed policies and disastrous practices.

For more information on this and other related issues, go to our web-site. Please, study the model (Initiatives/W5) for the reformation of the shelter system called H.O.S.T. presented to the Shelter By-law Committee, and as so many good ideas, forgotten or dismissed by the authorities who favour the no change approach. Maureen Gilroy who developed the model could provide with further information on the proposed decentralization of the shelter system.

The present system is broken – alas, not for the fat cats that live off human misery. $250 million spent annually on Toronto's emergency shelters could do wonders in the hands of intelligent, skilled and honest professionals.

Let's hope you will clearly and unequivocally communicate the thoughts and opinions of this host community.

Toronto, July 16, 2007

SHELTER BY-LAW

The Coalition for A Better By-law, through many deputations and meetings have, in good faith, put forward constructive criticism and proposals to render the proposed by-law comprehensive and cohesive. To generate discussion of issues pertaining to shelters, the Coalition prepared a number of documents probing the need for shelters, their location and operation.

Here is a sample of the questions that should have been asked by the elected offcials and answered by city staff prior to the by-law being passed.

• How many emergency shelter beds does the city currently provide and how many more are needed?
• How are required beds forecasted?
• Who are the client groups that the city of Toronto services?
• How does the city keep track of bed availability?
• Has there been any night that clients have been turned away from shelters because all the beds are full and no available bed has been located.
• Where do clients come from, and what are their needs?
• How many wards have shelters and what clients do they service?
• Please define the difference between transitional housing, supportive housing, hostels and emergency shelters. Clear definitions must be provided for the purpose of this by-law.
• What is the maximum bed capacity required to operate a shelter effectively, both fiscally and supportively?
• Does the cost/service quotient vary by client group?
• What is the total cost to fund all shelter beds and associated programs?
• What is the total cost to fund all shelter beds including federal and provincial contributions?
• Is there a proposal to locate shelters throughout the amalgamated City of
• Toronto? If so, what safeguards are there to ensure that all client groups will be serviced throughout the city?
• In the council policy of fair share what is the plan to devolve shelter concentration from the overburdened downtown core.
• In community deputations, what were the main concerns, was it the size of facility, concentration of the facility with respect to all other social housing, or the distance between facilities?
•Has staff considered H.O.S.T. (Housing, Opportunities, Service, and Transition a community-based solution as opposed to agency-based solutions?
• What is the rationale for undisclosed shelter size?
• What is the rationale for a 250-metre distance separation between shelters with no cap on the size of the proposed facilities?
• There has been talk of a tracking system, what stage is it at and how long will it take to be operational?
• What changes have been made to the Community Consultation Process?
• What changes have been made to the Site Selection process to guarantee that Schools and Parks will be taken into consideration when choosing a site for a specific client group?
• Will you be taking into consideration the placement of group homes in your site evaluations?
• Have you taken into consideration the impact that large facilities have had on neighbourhoods with respect to the closure of basic services such as bank machines and grocery stores?
• Will you be speaking with the local police during site selection deliberations to determine the crime rates of a particular area so that fore instance a shelter for men substance abuse issues is not placed in an area where there is an existing drug problem.
• Will there be any right to appeal under the new by-law?

SHELTERS - ISSUES AND FACTS

The data has been generated by the Finance Department (2001), City Hall, Toronto Police, and the Coalition for A Better Shelter By-law.

Issue:
The "as-of-right zoning by-law extended to the remaining 20 wards applies to new shelters only.
Facts:
• There is no viable basis to project any growth of the need for new shelter beds.
• Current shelter occupancy is calculated on the number of beds booked and not used.
• The shelter sector has no tracking system, and therefore, is unable to assess the number of the homeless, their problems and their needs.
• Every attempt at a census of the homeless has been torpedoed by special interest groups that live off the homeless industry.

IIssue:
The present shelter system primarily benefits a vast shelter bureaucracy. (Costs re:5 municipally owned and operated shelters).
Facts:
• The majority of shelters do not provide 24-hr service.
• Almost $4 million is spent to help clients relocate to permanent housing without any visible reduction to the numbers of the homeless.
• Over $1milion is spent to assist potential providers retrofit their facilities to accommodate hostel clientele.
• Salaries and benefits of shelter staff consume 55-75% of shelter costs.
• Almost $700, 000 is spent on staff training and travel, while only half of this amount goes to client transportation (TTC).
• Only5.3% are devoted to medical supplies while building supplies take up 7.8% of the shelter cost.

Issue:
The system puts an unprecedented burden on downtown.
Facts:
• Shelter users are forced to spend daytime in the streets and parks.
• In the absence of public toilets, transient population uses public grounds and spaces to relieve themselves.
• Drug use, prostitution and alcohol addiction are rampart..
• Disease is endemic including air borne infections such as TB.
• Anti-panhandling laws are not being enforced.

Issue:
Downtown ratepayers pay disproportionate rates to municipal services received.
Facts:
• Municipal taxes on properties in direct proximity to downtown shelters have gone up since 1998 from $2300.00 (1500 sq.ft. row house) to $3300.00.
• There are no retail, professional, financial services in the downtown shelter ghetto.
• Publicly funded recreation facilities and public spaces have been taken over by the homeless who are allowed to set up camp in parks and on sidewalks. No clean–up is provided.

Issue:
There is an intensive use of police services to sustain commercial ventures such as rooming houses located in proximity to shelters.
Facts:
The number of police calls to 31 rooming houses in direct proximity to Seaton House, Harbour Light and the Maxwell Meighen Centre remains at 850 a year.

A HOST Community would be created within every four wards across the amalgamated Toronto bringing their total number to eleven communities. Each ward would provide at least 100 beds. One HOST Community would therefore oversee 400 clients.