Social Justice

The gateway

1. The Salvation Army Gateway is a shelter and drop-in center for adults in the downtown core of Toronto.
They provide everything from the very basic needs of food shelter and clothing, to a comprehensive case management program that works alongside folks on the street on their journey out of the shelter system towards becoming contributing members of the community. The Gateway is now open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. There drop-in is open from 1-7 pm daily for men and women over the age of 21.

2. http://www.thegateway.ca/HOME/tabid/36/Default.aspx

3. The shelter has 108 beds available to men who are 21 and over, every single night of the year. They also provide 10 extra beds on extreme cold weather or heat alert nights. Over 97% of those beds are occupied on average on the course of an entire year.
65% of the men, who stay there, stay for less than 2 weeks. They are men who are going through a short term crisis, are often working, and have connections in the community but need to humble themselves for a short term in order to get back on their feet.
 25% of the men stay with them from 2 weeks to one year. They spend the bulk of our time and energy with this group of men as they want to do all they can to prevent them from becoming chronically homeless. They see much success with this group.

 10% of the men who stays there are chronically homeless. They have been living on the streets for more than one year and will most likely never leave the streets. These groups, a very small percentage of the people they work with, are those whose image is portrayed by the media as the face of homelessness. This group often deals with mental health and/or addictions issues and is very broken and abused men. They walk alongside them in community to demonstrate that they too are important to them and have value. The end of our relationship with this group is most often at their funeral. They then treat them in death the same way they treated them in...