New city program to help homeless at Yonge-Dundas
Toronto says it's launching a community outreach and response program to support "vulnerable people" in the Yonge Street and Dundas Street W. area who need help around substance use, mental health issues and housing.
The one-year pilot program called the Downtown Community Outreach Response and Engagement (CORE) Team is a joint effort between Toronto Public Health and Toronto police, according to a city news release Wednesday.
The program aims to help people access social supports and health services, along with responding to overdoses, the city states. It's led by public health nurses and will involve police to "ensure safety."
Eileen de Villa, Toronto's medical officer of health, said in the statement that homelessness and unmet health needs in the city's downtown create "significant challenges" for vulnerable populations, residents and businesses.
"The Downtown CORE Team addresses these issues with skill and compassion," she said.
The program's launch comes as Toronto is grappling with a housing and affordability crisis that has led to its shelter system being under strain, according to its 2023 Shelter and Support Services annual report.
Wages have not kept up with the cost of living, while increased housing costs have pushed people onto the street, the report explains. This has been coupled with the opioid crisis.
New program should fill gaps: BIA
Pauline Larsen, the executive director of the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area says the organization is supportive of the new program.
"It's going to be a proactive team that goes to vulnerable people and tries to assist them with health and social services," she said. "It's filling a gap."
She said the BIA has had a crisis response team for six years. But its hours are limited.
That's why it's important a team with nurses is on the ground in the area helping individuals, she said.
To see if the program is a success in a year, she said the BIA will examine whether vulnerable people who are unhoused feel supported by the CORE team.
They will also ask local businesses if they feel supported by the team ,she said. Larsen says she's glad the CORE team was created through multiple community partnerships, including collaborations with the BIA.
"Community safety and well-being are two sides of the same coin and in order for them to be successful initiatives …. they have to be partnerships," she said.
