Sanctuary was opened at 25 Charles Street in 1992 by Greg Paul. There were many other individuals and donors involved but Greg Paul successfully launched a capital campaign in 1999. Many people come to Sanctuary, some housed, some live on the streets, some do drugs, some are recovering addicts, etc. There is such a variety of people who go to Sanctuary, and they are all welcome. They have built a community of trust, respect, and lack of judgment. It is an open space where people are free to talk and express whatever emotions they may be feeling.
The words used most often are community and family. These people are exactly that to each other. They take care of each other and look out for each other. Some people have never had that kind of love before coming to Sanctuary, so it is huge for them. Sanctuary offers 2 drop in meals a week, 2 church services a week, a day to do art and paint, and other pop up events or even trips. They also do outreach where they go around Toronto to give people food, water, support, etc and hope that they will come by Sanctuary if they can so that they can join this incredible community. In my project I have included a photo of the outside of the building and the area beside it. The reason I included the area beside it is because it is relevant to the building itself. During COVID, that was a park, and it was full of tents of people who were homeless. They became a huge community. It was both a beautIful and devastatIng home. At this time a lot of places shut down or started doing less meals whereas Sanctuary increased their support to people. Sanctuary went from their usual 2 meals a week to 4 meals a week, and all the meals were held outside. During this time, they lost about 50-60 people to different causes. While this is devastatIng, each time they lost someone, the community came together and would have some sort of ceremony to honor and remember that person. This is beautiful because for some of these people, if they didn’t have Sanctuary, they wouldn’t have had anyone to remember them.
This area is now going through regentrification where they want to make the area “safer”. To do so they have removed that park and are turning it into something else. They want Sanctuary gone all together as well and have offered tons of money to get rid of them, but they won’t budge. They are determined, both staff, volunteers, and attendees. They have created such a beautIful, and welcoming environment for everyone, and it is truly amazing to see. For more info please check out their website online, Sanctuary 25 Charles Street.
Tim
It was amazing to be able to hear Tim’s story. He is such an amazing guy who is funny, emotional, and full of life. Tim has been coming to sanctuary for about 5 years. He heard through Sanctuary through 5 of his friends. Unfortunately, he lost a lot of his friends during this time. Just before COVID hit he was homeless and part way through taking a course, it was unfortunately cancelled. At this point he reached out to Sanctuary so he could volunteer there. They said that would be great. He ended up getting paid for his work because during COVID Sanctuary got funding so that volunteers were able to get paid as well. Some volunteers are still on contract and do get paid. He said this was such a fabulous experience to work at Sanctuary during COVID.
Tim was lucky enough to get a place to live on January 6th, 2020. The timing of this is crazy because he got housing right before the pandemic hit. Some staff at Sanctuary had invited him over for dinner one night then offered for him to stay the night down stairs. He said it was the first time sleeping in a bed in about 4 years. They ended up offering him to stay permanently and he still lives in the same place now. He said they are like his family. They have dinner on Sunday nights together and around Christmas time they go and pick a Christmas tree together.
Later, things started to slow down at Sanctuary, so he applied for a job at Sherbourne Health Center and he got the job. He is now teaching the course he was taking just as COVID hit. Talking about his experience at Sanctuary and living where he does, he was geIng choked up because he said it is just so amazing. Tim said that the people at Sanctuary support him so much and that they continue to inspire him to be a better person.
I had the pleasure of being able to speak to Ryan. He has been coming to Sanctuary for over a year now. He and his wife became homeless during November of 2022 and have been on the streets for ever since. It is Ryan, his wife, and their dog. Ryan is a truly amazing person who has so much love and gratitude. He talked about how freeing it is to come to Sanctuary because he doesn’t have to hide anything. He says there is no judgment here and because of that he believes people open up more and this allows them to receive more help this way. He says that this makes Sanctuary different from any other shelters or organizations. He and his wife are very protective of Sanctuary, they want to protect it and one day be able to give back and help the community just as it has helped them.
Ryan and his wife lived an average life however they used a lot of their savings trying to have children, then when COVID hit they both lost their jobs. Ryan said he was in the gifted program when he was a child and he now uses drugs to quiet his mind. He truly believes he is a better person this way. Ryan and his wife met in university, they have not been together ever since then, but they have been together for a while and Ryan says it is nice having someone who he knows he can always count on. Ryan does not really speak to his family anymore since they found out he and his wife do drugs. They said that if he and his wife didn’t separate, they would not keep a relationship with them. Ryan said it was an easy decision, and while he does miss his family, he is so grateful for what he does have with his wife.
Ryan
Rob & MJ
Rob and MJ are always together at Sanctuary, always with a smile and positive attitude. Both Rob and MJ are almost always speaking with someone or going up to say hi to someone. I have always felt so welcomed by them and love seeing them when i go to visit. Rob has too many stories to even begin to share but conversations with him are always very interesting and I often learn something. He has gone on CBC with a staff member named Tanja to talk about the Homeless situation in Toronto in hopes to educate people. A lot of people don't take the time to really understand what is going on, which is what Rob and Tanja are hoping to change. Rob has also spoken to classes at Toronto Metropolitan University. This was again just trying to educate people. Whats interesting is every time I talk to him, he understand that there is not one side to the story and no right one either, they are just bringing awareness to their perspective because it isn't often told.
Rica is a staff member at Sanctuary and oversees donations. She helped me connect with people to interview and take pictures during this project. Rica really enjoys hearing people's stories during this process as well since she has not been able to hear them yet.
Before Sanctuary Rica worked with an organization called Mercy and Action, which is based in the UK. She did a lot of program directing with this organization. With this organization, in the Phillipines she would go wake kids up on the streets and bring them to the center. Here they could get food, water, shelter, safety and most importantly, just be kids for a bit. At this point Rica was 17 or 18 years old, seeing all this. She felt that there was more for her to do. She parted ways with this organization and started her own. She ran this organization while being a Nanny in Seattle and she did this for about two years.
She then worked at Covenant house in donor relations, this was very short term. Due to the size of the organization, she didn’t really get the chance to interact with the people she was helping, which was very important to her. This is when she found Sanctuary, and she now does donor relations here. At Sanctuary staff members have to help with two community meals 2 times a week, supervise outside, and do outreach. Coming to work at Sanctuary became a place where her faith could grow and where she as a person could grow as well. People express their pain in so many ways at Sanctuary and it is all accepted here. The example Rica used was how we can go home in our room and scream into our pillows, they don’t have that luxury. Sanctuary is their safe space so that is where a lot of people express themselves because there is no judgment.
Rica
Gill is a staff member at Sanctuary, who used to do outreach for them and is now the Executive Director of Sanctuary. The premise of Sanctuary is “Service toward friendship”. This is huge to Gill. He believes that it is better to not just listen to people's stories but to also share his own, this way they can see that he is also human and has struggles as well. It can also be great if someone is struggling with something he struggled with in the past and overcame, which can provide hope for them. He also believes that this reduces the power dynamic. His favourite part of outreach is turning it from “their” space to “our” space.
Gill also helps with an art day they have on Wednesdays. He went to school for art so he helps out, he also does art on their chalk wall, which is right in the entryway to the dining area. There is always amazing work up there which changes regularly based on upcoming events or holidays, or if people request a specific theme. He believes it is important for people who are homeless to be creative. When they are on the streets all they think about is safety, food, water, shelter, etc, so they are not working that creative part of their brain. Gill makes sure that Sanctuary is full of art and that people have the opportunity to be creative.