Etobicoke church housing over 100 refugees in urgent need of funding

An Etobicoke church says its staff and volunteers have accumulated approximately $200,000 of personal debt providing temporary shelter and support to more than 100 newcomers to Canada.

Nadine Miller, a director at Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles, said every day for the past five weeks, more asylum seekers show up at their doorstep, having been turned away from Toronto’s overwhelmed shelter system.

Multiple units in a strip mall on Albion Road where the church is located have since been transformed into living quarters to meet the need. Rows upon rows of beds now take over the basement of a restaurant, a former TD bank and several business offices, while a gym in the same plaza gives the refugees a place to shower.

But in order to keep the extensive community effort afloat, Miller warns money is desperately needed.

“We need somebody to step in and help us because if they don’t help us, what are we going to tell the landlord?” Miller said. “Do we get put out? Do our doors get closed? And where do the people go? Winter is coming.”

The cost of covering basic human needs like food, bedding, and medication, for the asylum seekers, is estimated to be $15,000 per day. In the absence of funding from any government, Miller said they are relying only on the goodwill of the community.

“If we can do it in days, the government can do what they need to do.”

CityNews reached out to all three levels of government. A statement from the City said it “extends its sincere thanks for the leadership and mobilization of Black-led community and faith organizations in Toronto, who organized temporary shelter and provided food, clothing and a sense of community for many asylum claimants until more permanent solutions could be arranged.”

The statement added City staff have been working closely with two of those churches, but added: “Resource constraints prevent us from being able to provide this same level of support to other churches that have opened their doors.”

The City and province have both said Ottawa needs to step up.

While the federal government has committed $97 million to Toronto through an existing program that covers interim housing for asylum seekers, City Council says $157 million is needed to cover the costs of supporting existing refugee claimants in the shelter system.

“For our part, Ontario has already stepped up with $3.3 billion in operational funding for 2023 and has fulfilled Toronto’s request to address their 2022 COVID-19 related budget pressures,” read a statement from Caitlin Clark, press secretary for Premier Doug Ford.

But the office of the federal minister of immigration is calling on Ontario to do more, with a forecasted $4.4 billion budget surplus by 2025-26.

“The emergency support the federal government has provided during the pandemic has led directly to the excellent fiscal position that the Province of Ontario currently enjoys,” said Bahoz Dara Aziz, a press secretary for the Minister’s Office.

Miller is frustrated with what she sees as intergovernmental finger-pointing and a lack of political will. Bureaucratic red tape leaves many of the refugees in limbo without work permits to get a job or credit history to rent. Only 46 of the 145 people they are helping have paperwork.

Those seeking asylum in Canada face torture, persecution and death in their countries. But without money urgently, Miller warns people will die here too.

“We are in a 911 situation,” she said.