I really do hope to begin to see some progress on this front. There's always talk, and has been for decades, but not enough action. Shelters are inadequate temporary fixes for homelessness. I don't pretend to have a foolproof solution, but modular housing sounds promising. An efficiency unit per person or couple, but then one must also factor in support systems for addiction and mental illness. There is no easy answer, but we can do better in wealthy Toronto than large rooms filled with cots.
By Summer 2024, Modular Supportive Housing at 175 Cummer (Willowdale Manor Senior Centre) coming in at $36.3m for 59 micro-units mainly about 250sqft! That's $615K per 250sqft micro-unit! For that money, you can easily find a 1+den full size condo unit! BTW, not even the done yet, so not final cost!!!
Its an ok piece from Ed..........but in his brief focus on this site.......he really misses the delays and causes of delays that have affected far more units. Edward Keenan's Toronto Star article titled "NIMBY Battle Over Housing Plan Cost City over $22M" is a false statement!,... as per...
urbantoronto.ca
Recently, Purpose Built Homeless Shelter at 1220 Wilson coming in with construction cost of $51m for 80 beds,.... $637K per bed! Again, it's on City owned land,... so we're not even factoring land cost! Oh, and this is just the starting budget cost,.... wait til they finish construction!
https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/application-details/?id=5623235&pid=354437&title=CITY-INITIATED-1220-WILSON-AVE Another city-initiated rezoning as part of the shelter program. This is on the north side of Wilson Avenue, east of Julian Road and west of Agate Road in...
urbantoronto.ca
So the City's new model is to over-pay way above market prices for 250sqft micro-units!
But here, let's look at the City's old/previous model,.... which places Temporary Homeless Shelters in old buildings at Development Sites as they go thorough the Development Application process,... started before Pandemic sites include: Broadway, Roehampton Inn, 5800 Yonge, SE corner of Bathurst & Lakeshore, etc,... Now, the City of Toronto is placing Temporary Shelter outside the downtown core in high-density areas that never had Homeless Shelters before! That's a big change for local residents,... as Before and After data shows "Auto theft spiked by 225%, robbery by 100%, sexual violation by 175%, theft over by 150% and break-and-enter by 76.5%, Toronto Police statistics say."
In the three months after the Roehampton hotel shelter opened in July 2020, neighbourhood crime jumped 30% compared to the summer before.
torontosun.com
Oh,... and guess what happens to the really bad apples who gets kicked out of the 5800 Yonge Homeless Shelter - most just move 1 street north to Inez Court (Yolanda Flanders' Conservatory Group Ruby) and squat in all those empty bungalows,... Drug Den at #21,... bonfire in the streets,... got so bad that Cllr Filion had to give them special permission to Demolish all the bungalows,... no problem, then they just set up Encampments in the nearby Hydro Lands
Since this Conservatory Group Ruby development application is technically dead - but they're still holding up Beecroft North Extension,... I'll be squatting Beecroft North Extension here (as I've been squatting Doris South Extension at 55 Sheppard East thread) Since Conservatory Group (Yolanda...
urbantoronto.ca
Needless to say, there's also much higher rates of Drug/Substance/Alcohol Addiction and Mental Illness amongst Homeless,... and they're so severe that their own families and friends don't want to deal with it. City policy is "Harm Reduction" - to supply drug paraphernalia & supplies,... and even if City doesn't supply the drug - anyone with OHIP card can get free drugs right at NorthEast Corner of Yonge & Cummer where there's a TrueNorth Medical Walk-In Clinic/Pharmacy
There's often Police and Ambulance outside of 5800 Yonge. Image from July 2022, shows Forensic Police investigating a Death outside 5800 Yonge - see that rusty stump, that used to host an elevated pair of billboards which a 5800 Yonge Shelter client jumped off of a year prior,...
Image at 5800 Yonge showing memorial for another Kenyan Refugee who died of Mental Health & Addiction issues,... City Policy basically encourage Drug Addiction - look at the image: background advertise Naloxone and safe disposal of needles!
May 17, 2025: "African community leaders call for more mental health supports after Kenyan refugee dies at Toronto shelter",...
- "“It seems like more could be done, especially when you see individuals behaving in a manner that is a few steps away from the grave,” said Jjumba, who said he is aware of at least three residents of the Willowdale Welcome Centre who passed away from mental health-related causes since the onset of the African refugee crisis in the summer of 2023."
- "Karanja, who is also the founder of North York’s Royal Chapel Worldwide Ministries, said she’s aware of about four or five Kenyan refugees in the GTA who have passed in the last three or so years from mental health and addiction issues."
A Kenyan refugee who died at a shelter in North York late last month should have received more mental health support, says the Kenyan community along with a group working to advance the rights, dignity, and well-being of African refugees in Canada.
www.cp24.com
This 5800 Yonge Refugee Shelter started with about 200 beds in November 2019, then went as high as 535 beds,... now closer to 410 beds,... host not just African Refugees but also many Refugees from Central & South America,.... and Homeless Shelter from Summer 2020 to Fall 2023,... Needless to say, there's been a number of Death from Overdose and Mental Illness at this 5800 Yonge site,.... Is this 5800 Yonge site haunted? Would you buy a condo at 5800 Yonge???
