Homeless centre closed by mistake
Peter Street Referral Centre shut briefly Sept. 19, and left many with nowhere to go
A glitch in the city’s shelter system managed to temporarily close down a 24-hour, city-run referral centre for the homeless — a place that is often seen as a last-resort to escape harsh weather and find safety.
The Peter Street Referral Centre, a resource that helps people find shelter beds, shut its doors between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., leaving many people with nowhere else to go on Sept. 19.
Also known as Streets to Homes Assessment and Referral Centre, it normally allows people to sleep on chairs or the floor as they wait for a shelter bed to open up. But it had no more room and was forced to close its doors for the first time.
“People made a mistake,” said Patricia Anderson, with the City of Toronto’s shelter, support and housing administration division. “It should never be closed; it’s been continuously available since 2010.”
The problem began after a staff member called in sick to the Fort York Residence, a shelter for men, which offers an additional 21beds for its extreme weather program. The shelter stopped accepting referrals for beds as a result of the staff shortage that night. The shutdown forced Peter Street to accommodate the people it would normally have sent to Fort York, said Anderson.
About 47 people slept on chairs or the floor as they waited for a place to stay. On an average day, up to 25 people could be found sleeping at the referral centre. Only seven staff members were on duty.
“We since looked at our staffing procedures and processes and we fixed the problem so there should not be a reoccurrence,” Anderson said.
People working on the front lines with Toronto’s homeless population believe the closure demonstrates how strained and limited the city’s shelter system is.
“Peter Street is really seen as a place of last resort for us,” said Patricia O’Connell, who operates Sistering, a 24/7 drop-in centre for women. “We always felt there is room for someone to at least sleep on the floor of the centre to escape the weather or have a safe place where they won’t be assaulted but where do they go if not Peter Street?”