City looks to rename homeless services, 'shelter' to be phased out
way emergency shelters operate. Part of that plan looks
to change public attitudes, or NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard),
around adding shelters to communities. Those behind New Hope
Leslieville, a 60 bed men’s shelter that opened last month,
intentionally left out the word “shelter” when renaming the new
facility. It was created to replace the 124 bed Hope Shelter,
which operated for 40 years at the intersection of McCaul and
College streets before closing in 2015. “To me, ‘shelter’ has
always represented some sort of a stigma,” says homeless
advocate Alex Zsager. Zsager used Toronto’s shelter system for
about a year when the company he was working for downsized and
he was laid off. He says renaming shelters would go a long way
to give users hope and help dispel NIMBYism in the community.
“75 per cent (of shelter users) are there because they lost
their job, or illness, or accident, or trauma,” Zsager said.
“It’s not by choice, so they just need the opportunity to get
away.” Councillor Paula Fletcher says while the term doesn’t
affect her negatively, recent city surveys showed the opposite.
A survey done in fall 2017 found 93 per cent of respondents
felt “shelter” was either a negative or neutral term. Many
recommended a new moniker altogether. “We found that yes, a lot
of people said, ‘Ooh shelter. That makes me afraid’,” Fletcher
said. “So, it’s time to look at that.” The city is now testing
out nine names in a new survey, including ‘Connect’, ‘Link’,
‘Junction Services’, ‘First Step Housing and Services’ or
‘Navigation Centre’. Toronto’s emergency shelter system is
almost always near or at capacity. Last Wednesday, it held about
5,800 people, including almost 1,600 in motel beds. City council
approved a motion last week to introduce 1,000 shelter beds over
the next three years. Click
here
to take the survey and weigh in on alternative terms for
“shelter”.
Link to article: http://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/02/25/city-looks-rename-homeless-services-shelter-phased/
