Strathcona residents say Toronto shelter hotels failed promise of permanent housing
Global News
Jason Costate recently passed his one-year anniversary off drugs like crystal meth and fentanyl --a period of sobriety that began when he moved into a Toronto hotel-turned-shelter.
Jason Costate recently passed his one-year anniversary off drugs like crystal meth and fentanyl — a period of sobriety that began when he moved into a Toronto hotel-turned-shelter.
Before arriving at the site at what was previously the Strathcona hotel in downtown Toronto, Costate had been kicked out of three shelters for fighting. But, he said, the privacy and dignity of having his own room at the Strathcona helped him get back on his feet.
“I do my (Narcotics Anonymous) meetings over Zoom, I have my one-year chip for sobriety, I have sponsors now,” said Costate, a crane operator. “I’m on methadone and I want to go back to work.”
The city began using hotels for those experiencing homelessness after hundreds fled shelters in March 2020 for fear of contracting COVID-19. The hotels offered an alternative to encampments that cropped up in parks and additional space for physical distancing.
Strathcona residents told The Canadian Press the hotel offered a sense of dignity many hadn’t experienced in years at typical shelters: they could close their own doors, use the bathroom in privacy, or just look at themselves in the mirror.
Experts have urged the city to explore permanently converting some hotels to shelters, arguing that in addition to obvious social benefits, stable housing for people experiencing homelessness also makes economic sense by reducing shelter and healthcare costs.
The city had previously announced plans to wrap up the hotel program through 2023. In an email on Thursday, spokeswoman Erin Whitton noted City Council had “approved the extension of most temporary shelter sites until April 2024.”
Last week, Costate and other Strathcona residents were told they would have to relocate by April 12 of this year, with the city saying it was working to find them permanent housing or other shelter spots.