York Region charity urging religious groups to offer shelter space to tackle homeless crisis

A York Region charity is urging faith-based groups to use the space they have as shelters, as homelessness in the region continues to grow. 

The Blue Door charity is launching its Mosaic Interfaith Out of the Cold program, a yearly initiative which partners with faith-based groups in York Region to provide shelter space for people experiencing homelessness. 

Blue Door CEO Michael Braithwaite says the charity partnered with five faith-based groups this year, but hopes more will join to help meet an increase in demand.

The seasonal program launches in October and used to run until the end of March, but Braithwaite says growing needs forced the program to extend its season to the end of May. 

"We serve over 500 people a year and we anticipate this year we'll have over 600 unique individuals," he said.

Braithwaite says a shortage of affordable housing options and rent increases are driving increased demand. He says he's hoping more faith-based groups will offer their space to ease the pressures and help expand the program.

Braithwaite says each site will offer up to 30 beds, and while the program runs seven days a week, some locations will only operate a few nights a week. 

The Wideman Mennonite Church is one of the groups stepping forward for its second year. The church has 30 beds available. 

Sheryl Wideman has helped with the Out of The Cold program for 15 years, and she says it's important that her church provide support.

"When you do this, you realize that these people are just people, like us, only they've had some hard times come to them," she said.

"How can we not share what we have?"

Government's not prioritizing homeless crisis: expert

Keeping the pressure on the government is crucial to tackling the homelessness crisis, says Kiaras Gharabaghi, dean of the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University.

"It's fair to say that homelessness will not be solved by faith-based organizations," he said.  "Those organizations mean well, but are not really equipped to provide sort of fundamental solutions to these issues."

Gharabaghi says funding needs to become a priority for all levels of government, to ensure homelessness is met with long-lasting solutions, such as providing affordable and stable housing.

"The championing, the catalyst, the funder, the policy maker is the government," he said.