For 124 years, Yonge Street Mission has offered a place for people in need with nowhere else to go. Since March 19, 2020 we've been offering modified program delivery to address basic needs of our city's most vulnerable people, who suddenly are living off even less due to this pandemic. To date, we've served close to 6,000 community members by offering groceries, healthy take-out meals, pet food, hygiene products, sleeping bags & more, and continue to provide vital necessities during COVID.
This unprecedented crisis threatens those experiencing poverty more than ever. Fewer agencies remain to offer help and many YSM suppliers have limited operations, so can't provide us with all the foods or goods they used to / we need. We're concerned for our community members who are hard hit by COVID, and if we'll be able to serve them all given increasing costs as we now buy increasing amounts of goods they need, and PPE, as essential safeguards for our staff & to mitigate the spread of COVID.
YSM provides wraparound care to vulnerable Toronto community members. During this pandemic, we're ensuring essential support continues safely: daily take-away lunches, snacks & drinks for street-involved youth; healthy take-out meals for adults; pre-packaged groceries, distributed safely outside, to Food Bank clients & others in need; key resources like hygiene kits and baby supplies; and increasing vital counselling delivered by phone and video for mental health support / crisis care.
Today, YSM serves to feed and support people through the hardship and duress of COVID, but typically we offer customized interventions, to help community members see change as possible, commit to short/long-term programs and goal setting to achieve their potential. Post-pandemic we'll re-focus resources on helping people recover, to move them from surviving to thriving and - by working with partners, the public and government - work to end chronic poverty in Toronto in one generation.
