Toronto+Homelessness

Homelessness in Toronto: The people, The Problems, The Solution
Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are the three cities in Canada with the highest population of homeless persons (Wikipedia). The streets of downtown Toronto as well as subway stations and secluded areas of a neighborhood are unfortunately filled with homeless people. Homeless people are considered to be those who do not have a steady place of residence at night and who do not have a place to store their personal possessions. Not all homeless people are crazy and addicted to drugs or alcohol. Many programs run by Canadian agencies help newcomers, youth, people with disabilities, women who have been abused, seniors and people with HIV/AIDS. However 40% of homeless people have some sort of mental impairment (Wikipedia). These impairments could be a result from substance abuse, problems from birth, mothers with children who are forced to leave the residence because of abuse and have suffered emotional distress or experienced trauma. As a result many of these people are not receiving the help they need.

Where it all began
In the 1960’s and 1970’s a new trend was instigated in the Canadian health care system of deinstitutionalization (Wikipedia). Deinstitutionalization was a solution to a decrease in funds in the health care system and since most asylums were mostly half empty they decided to alter the program. To this day Canada is following the system that was instated in those early days. Currently the health care system in place is known as a “revolving door” people who need the service may be administered into the hospital for a short period of time, receive consultation or perhaps medication and are sent right back into the world (Understanding Homelessnes). This has proven unsuccessful, as most patients do not follow the regiment set out for them with regards to medicine intake or personal care. These people have received only a fraction of the medical attention they acquire. As a result people who should have a stable residence in an institution have ended up on the streets of the city.

The People
Previously in Canada people with serious medical problems such as schizophrenia, major depression, or bipolar disorder were housed in the proper institutions. Many people that were taking the proper medication and were supervised were able to lead a productive and pleasant lifestyle. Many could acquire part time jobs and some were able to attain the skills they needed to live on their own and smoothly integrate into a community. However if those persons are not monitored approximately 75% of them will not follow instructions for well-being and subsequently fall back into the hands of the disease and lead a harmful lifestyle (Wikipedia).

A second group of people that occupy the streets of Toronto are people with drug abuse and alcoholism. People who become addicted to a certain substance are unable to lead a productive and positive lifestyle or so it may happen that their support system falls apart, or they loose their jobs they may end up living on the street and make that substance their priority. Those people are also not able to benefit from the current hospitalization system. There are insufficient long-term rehab programs. Eligible patients may be able to complete a medically assisted detoxification (CAMH). This can be very necessary for some people as they may have been using for the majority of their lives and cannot become clean by themselves and without medical complications. CAMH provides rehabilitation facilities for those who need them however they are an out patient treatment. Participants can come and go as they please as well as sign themselves out of the program rather than have a guarantor sign them in and out of treatment. In addition those programs do not monitor the patients themselves. Rather when the patient has a craving for the substance they were abusing they have sole responsibility to contact a sponsor. As a result most people do not do this, break their sobriety and fall back into their harmful ways.

A third group of people who have fallen victim to the costs of living a life in Toronto are youth. Approximately 10,000 youth lived on the streets of Toronto at one point in time in 2003 and one in four youth live bellow the poverty line (United Way). This would constitute them as on the verge of homelessness because they are not in a stable environment and are at the risk of eviction due to the inability to pay for a living facility (United Way). From 2001 to 2004 the number of impoverished youth has doubled in Toronto neighborhoods (United Way). Youth who have problems at home whether it be because of a low to modest incomes, or abuse are more likely to commit crimes and live an unhealthy lifestyle. Unfortunately those youth who live on the street and learn street values early on in life have a grimmer future than those who were able to live a more privileged lifestyle.

An Attempt at a Solution
Unfortunately the streets of Toronto are filled with homeless people. They are forced to sleep in subways, near department store heaters, in banks or any place that is not monitored or is considered public property over night. Although there is help for people who live on the street it is often not enough. From programs such as out of the cold, to soup kitchens to clothing drives, homeless people are not receiving the amount of help they need. Each program is only temporary as it is just one meal, or one night of shelter. It is not a permanent place for people to keep their possessions or to build a life and family. Additionally those programs provide TTC tokens, which permit those people to ride the subway, which often gets them into more trouble, as many homeless are thrown out of subway stations for begging, disturbing others or living on the platforms.

CAMH- Center for Addiction and Mental Health
CAMH, the Center for Addiction and Mental Health is a prominent facility in downtown Toronto which has helped many people with their addictions and has helped others maintain their metal problems and control their medication intake (CAMH). CAMH has also provided many types of supplementary services to walk in patients. The staff has been able to deal with many types of disorders and have come accustomed to servicing homeless and those on the verge of losing their possessions and livelihood. Primarily volunteers run other programs in Toronto. Some volunteers are former social workers or simply high school students who want to earn their community service hours. Many are people who recognize that there is a homelessness problem in Toronto and see the need of volunteers for the community run programs to continue. Often for programs that help struggling families or single mothers with children there are after school type programs to occupy the children while the mothers are taught how to get back into the job world.

Choose a Path
Homelessness has been a problem in Toronto as well as many other cities around the world for quite some time. Initially the problem was caused by economic problems in a country and at times still is. However nowadays problems seem to stem from mental illnesses, substance abuse and families and youth who have not been able to stay above the poverty line and are at risk of becoming homeless. Toronto has such a problem with homelessness because it is such a large city and there are simply not enough funds to relieve everybody. Although there are many programs and support systems available for people struggling to maintain a livelihood or people who are homeless many do not seek that help. Regularly the facilities available are full, and cannot accept any more people. Soup kitchens run out of food, shelters run out of beds. The problem can only be solved by one way and that is to have more government funding to support these people as they have fallen through the cracks of society and are unable to integrate themselves back into the world and the workforce. Deinstitutionalization was the initial factor that established this problem and it is the government’s responsibility to reinstate it so that those who are in no need of mental illness help can reap the benefits from the money available. Since this may not happen, the homeless have relied on kind souls for a helping hand as they cannot help themselves.

**Bibliography**
Image courtesy of Google

"CAMH scientist leads national homelessness research initiative-CAMH." __CAMH: Centre for Addiction & Mental Health--__. 01 Feb. 2009 .

"Deinstitutionalisation -." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 01 Feb. 2009 . __Home | United Way Toronto__. 01 Feb. 2009 .

"Homelessness in Canada -." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 01 Feb. 2009 .

Kuno, Eri, Aileen B. Rothbard, June Averyt, and Dennis Culhane. "Homelessness Among Persons With Serious Mental Illness in an Enhanced Community-Based Mental Health System." Aug. 2000. American Psychiatric Association. 01 Feb. 2009.

"Understanding Homelessness." __Understanding Homelessness__. 4 Feb. 2009 .