{"id":808,"date":"2015-10-31T16:27:51","date_gmt":"2015-10-31T20:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/?p=808"},"modified":"2015-10-31T16:27:51","modified_gmt":"2015-10-31T20:27:51","slug":"hidden-homelessness-growing-in-york-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/hidden-homelessness-growing-in-york-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden homelessness growing in York Region"},"content":{"rendered":"

Read the full article at The Toronto Star.<\/a><\/p>\n

Download the print-friendly PDF here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Who could possibly be homeless in York Region?<\/p>\n

The vast area comprising nine municipalities north of Toronto appears to be a blueprint for suburban affluence; families live in large homes with two-car garages, grassy backyards and good schools and shopping just a short drive away.<\/p>\n

Dave Rogers was homeless in York Region. So were 30 other men who jammed Porter Place in East Gwillimbury \u2014 York Region\u2019s only men\u2019s shelter \u2014 to capacity the day Rogers showed up in the fall of 2010.<\/p>\n

Hooked on alcohol and drugs, Rogers decided to escape \u201ca lifetime of addiction\u201d through the shelter and the support system it offered. One problem: No available rooms the night he arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they didn\u2019t turn me away,\u201d the 60-year-old Rogers said of the Porter Place counsellors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey pulled out a cot and put it in the common room where I had to sleep until a room became available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogers was lucky. A room freed up the next day, and his journey to a better life began.<\/p>\n

Not everyone lost in York Region\u2019s \u201chidden homelessness\u201d is as fortunate.<\/p>\n

There are about 130 shelter beds to serve a population of more than 1 million. Most of those beds belong to Blue Door, which serve men, families and youth in separate housing locations. It\u2019s a service supported by the United Way of Toronto and York Region.<\/p>\n

In 2014, the Blue Door had to turn away people about 4,000 times in York Region due to lack of space (those people were referred to other shelters, some in Toronto).<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people look at York Region and say, \u2018Well, everybody lives in suburban homes, and it\u2019s easy to think they are all in upper-class and upper-middle class settings, but York Region has a lot of homelessness,\u201d said Radha Bhardwaj, executive director of the Blue Door, which aid about 1,200 to 1,500 people annually.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a vast geographic region, and poverty does exist. But it\u2019s spread out, which makes it more complex to name it and say, \u2018Yes, poverty and homelessness live here,\u2019 whereas in Toronto, it could be concentrated in high rises or other places where you could (easily identify) an area that is struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhardwaj described \u201ccouch surfing\u201d as one way people stay under the radar in what she calls \u201chidden homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are a youth unable to find a job and you can\u2019t live at home any more, you may have to live with four or five other people, and it\u2019s harder for you to find housing … especially if you are getting some (government) income supports, there is some discrimination around that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, people end up moving from place to place to place for a long time before they even acknowledge that they\u2019re homeless and find their way to our shelters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhardwaj said one of the more troubling trends is growth in the \u201cchronic\u201d homeless. That\u2019s when people leave a shelter when they find housing but cannot retain that housing and return to the shelter. She said it is critical to improve the Blue Door\u2019 \u201cwraparound supports and skills\u201d that provide programs ranging from basic needs (clothing and food) to health-care connections that clients can access when they leave to increase the likelihood of remaining in their own housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our perspective, our shelters are becoming more than just a shelter,\u201d Bhardwaj said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where the United Way of Toronto and York Region plays a key role in aiding shelters, with funding and skills assistance. The United Way is partnered with the federal government\u2019s Homelessness Partnering Strategy, which allots about $500,000 annually to be spent specifically on homelessness in York Region.<\/p>\n

The United Way administers how that federal money is spent through consultation with the region\u2019s 16-person Homelessness Community Advisory Board (eight of whom have either been in the shelter system or had family or close friends in it).<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s role is to discuss and decide York Region\u2019s priorities in addressing long-term solutions to homelessness and how best to use that federal funding.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Homelessness Partnering Strategy called for York Region\u2019s first \u201cPoint-in-Time\u201d count. The two-day count will be conducted Jan. 20-21 of 2016 to provide a snapshot of homelessness on two fronts: How many homeless people exist in York Region and how many are using resources like shelters or out-of-the-cold programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will give us the data that we need to figure out the multiple entry points into homelessness and how we can support at all those levels,\u201d Bhardwaj said.<\/p>\n

Rogers, now thriving, will not be in that January count. He has been sober for five years, runs his own small landscaping business in York Region and lives happily on a Bradford farm owned by a friend.<\/p>\n

Rogers is also a poet. He wrote his first poem on the steps of Porter Place in 2010 when a counsellor suggested he write down his thoughts. It was a therapeutic task, which eventually led to enough prose to fill The Dark Road: A Book of Poetry, which the Blue Door share with clients.<\/p>\n

Rogers still gives back to the shelter staff who did not turn him away five years ago. Every two weeks, he volunteers at Porter Place to sort and box food at the shelter, sometimes counselling other men by sharing his life experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel obligated,\u201d Rogers. \u201cI feel it\u2019s a part of my responsibility as part of my own treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read the full article at The Toronto Star. Download the print-friendly PDF here. Who could possibly be homeless in York Region? The vast area comprising nine municipalities north of Toronto appears to be a blueprint for suburban affluence; families live in large homes with two-car garages, grassy backyards and good schools and shopping just a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t