Financial pressures forcing Etobicoke church housing refugees to close by end of December

A Toronto church that has been on the front lines of the refugee housing crisis says it will be forced to close its doors as of December 28 due to a lack of funds.

Nadine Miller with Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles in Etobicoke says they have been working around the clock since July to make sure refugees have a roof over their heads and warm food to eat.

“Canada itself is known as a place of refuge. Internationally we have danced well, we have done well, we give well but now it’s in our country and we cannot allow Black people to sleep on the street,” she said.

“We really need a helping hand at this point. We need those with a voice to stand up with us.”

Miller says the cost to keep Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles running as a shelter has put the church into debt to the tune of between $700- to $800,000.

“On a given month with all the different locations that we have, it’s $30,000. And then you have staff, that another $100,000. Every month we’re in at least $250,000 of debt that we have to pay and that debt is now overwhelming.”

Right now the church is housing about 80 people with some being regularly moved to hotels in regions like Niagara and Windsor. While many are being placed in shelters or permanent housing, more asylum seekers continue to show up.

“Last night we still had people coming at the doors. I had to take in a woman and children and I have them upstairs in a room that’s alredy shut down,” said Miller.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it has over four thousand hotel rooms in six provinces — including about 2,500 rooms in 16 hotels in Ontario — to provide temporary housing to asylum seekers. In a statement, the government agency says in part, “Work towards a longer-term solution is ongoing. In the meantime, IRCC has been working collaboratively with impacted provinces and municipalities to transfer asylum claimants requiring temporary accommodations from provincial shelters and churches to IRCC-funded hotels with available space.”

Miller says a more permanent solution is needed.

“We found a couple of places but we just don’t have the financial capacity. We need to figure out how we’re going to meet that budget because as you can see once you start bringing in the beds more people are going to come,” explained Miller, joining the call for adequate support from all levels of government.

“We need the three levels of government to talk, they need to get together and talk and not play the mind games. They’re not children, they’re leaders …They need to act accordingly and lead.”

Last week Dominion Church International in North York announced it too would be shutting down its shelter space due to lack of funding. They are currently raising money with the hopes of opening a shelter with 500 beds in Peterborough.