The Faces of Homelessness
On October 10, World Homeless Day, we explore the faces of homelessness. Homelessness can look like anyone because it can happen to anyone. Homeless people have jobs and families and come from all areas of our community.
The need
Homelessness is at crisis levels right now.
Peel is in an affordable housing crisis. 91,000 households are in core housing need. Rising house prices and rents have made it unaffordable for many to live here. We have seen a dramatic rise in family and youth homelessness since the pandemic. There is a lack of affordable and supportive housing and systems are being stretched thin.
Peel would need $50 billion over 10 years to meet all of our core housing need.
Now this system is needing to absorb daily increases in asylum claimants needing shelter, adding pressure to a system that was already stretched too thin. With shelters currently at 290% occupancy rate, we need emergency funding now.
With asylum claimants arriving at our shelter sites as soon as they arrive in Canada or after being turned away from other municipalities, it is a problem that crosses boarders and political organizations and needs a solution to match.
What we are doing
Peel Region is working on the front lines of this crisis every day.
Our Street Outreach team is a responsive, mobile, multi-disciplinary team that meets you where you are. Last year, the team worked with 577 homeless clients. 4,100 clients were served in the emergency shelter system.
We are advocating with all levels of government for more funding to get asylum seekers shelter from the cold that is coming soon.
We are building a new Brampton Youth Shelter.
We are converting hotels into affordable housing units like at Rutherford Road where 50 affordable rental and 17 youth transitional units will help meet the needs of homeless youth while they transition to permanent housing solutions.
We are working with our community with programs like Stay the Night that offers a stopgap by providing an alternative to shelters during times of great need.
We refocussed our needs-based approach to portable subsidies – which move with you within Peel and are not specific to a unit so you can choose where you want to live and not lose the subsidy – to be able to target where the need is greatest.
We are making new strides in health supports for people experiencing homelessness; 116 new clients received care for complex health needs in 2022.
Some ways you can get involved
- Learn more about our homeless support system in Peel.
- Consider Peel’s second unit program or other rental opportunities.
- Donate to some our community partners on the front lines of homelessness including United Way Greater Toronto, Our Place Peel, ReGeneration Brampton, Food Banks Mississauga, or any of the food banks in Peel.