Dear Friends,
The tents are back.
Yesterday, I parked my car at the Synod Office in my usual spot, up against the fence in St. James Park. On the other side of the fence, the collection of small and colourful tents in the park is growing. Every day there are a few more, erected under carefully chosen trees or alongside benches or other structures for protection. And inside each of those tents, I know, are people who call that tent home.
Today, however, as every Friday, I am working from the warmth and comfort of my house. I am conscious that today, Nov. 22, is National Housing Day. Homelessness is exploding across the province for as many as 234,000 people, according to last summer’s statistics. Shelters across the province are at capacity, and communities large and small – urban, suburban and rural – are all seeing a rise in visible homelessness: people living in tents in parks and ravines, taking shelter in doorways and on heating grates, or living in their cars. In Toronto, over 200 people are turned away from shelters every night because there is no room; many others have given up calling, in despair of finding space. In North Durham, where hidden homelessness was once the norm, staff at North House are finding more and more people unsheltered in public. In Northumberland, a deacon finds seniors living in their cars. In Wasaga Beach, people turn to summer rentals for shelter over the winter months but have to vacate before the summer tourist season starts.
There are far more people who may not be homeless now but are precariously close, spending 30% or more of their incomes on housing costs. Rents across Ontario have surged by 54.5% over the last decade, and many people spend almost everything they have to keep a roof over their heads. Nearly 180,000 Ontario households are waiting to access subsidized housing, but the wait times can be years, even decades, long.
There are things you can do. This past year, more than 70% of parishes in our Diocese passed vestry motions supporting an end to rent control loopholes: get involved in campaigns like Fair Rent Ontario to amplify that call. You can raise your voice to tell the provincial government not to override the rights of unhoused people but to invest in housing for those most in need. When a shelter or supportive housing project is proposed for your community, find ways to support it rather than obstruct it. Visit our website for more information on how you can help.
This Sunday, Reign of Christ Sunday, our Diocese observes FaithWorks Sunday, and perhaps your parish will have a particular emphasis on FaithWorks also. As we come to the end of the Church’s year and anticipate what the world calls “the season of giving” at Christmas, we can remember that we are the humble recipients of so many gifts from God, and we are called as disciples of Jesus to share our gifts with the poor and those in need.
Though we may focus on FaithWorks for this one day, housing and food insecurity, personal danger and instability, loneliness and isolation, persist every day. FaithWorks Sunday is a reminder that we are to use our time, talents and treasure to be the hands of Jesus, and that we can usher in the Reign of Christ by helping one person at a time, in the here and now.
Please do what you can do and give what you can give. The tents are back, and the need continues to grow.
Yours in Christ,
The Rt. Rev. Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto
