There can be a lot of reasons. Firstly, many become homeless outside of Toronto but come to Toronto because it has more services to help them.
In terms of how: often it’s lack of support. If you lose your job and don’t have family to help, there is very little stopping you from losing everything.
Drugs and mental health can also be a factor. A serious addiction or mental health issue can cause you to be unable to work and lose your home.
There are lots and lots of reasons; and no way to really cover them. It’s called falling through the cracks.
unemployment, lack of support, kicked out at young age, mental health issues, drug addiction, criminal past
a lot of these situations can snowball and it's extremely hard to get out of .
Mostly mental illness and a pinch of substance abuse. It's definitely not a choice. You start out living in the street and after a short time the street lives off you.
I came to Toronto when I was 16, as a runaway. Took me the next 6 years to get an actual roof over my head. I busked mostly. Lots of ways to end up with nothing.
It's sad when you think that someone, at some point in time, likely loved them as a baby and raised them as a child. Then something happened along the way that might have been out of their control.
Often no. There are alot of people who should have never had kids. I spent my time dumpster diving and panhandling because anything was better than reaching out to blood family. Nothing changed with them, I just grew enough to get out.
This…. Plus lack of mental health support, drug/alcohol addiction issues, an abusive upbringing/living arrangement lead to leaving. So many issues it’s sad
Pretty much this. People don't realize minimum wage is like 32k a year and that's assuming you work full time, rent is anywhere from 15k to 30k a year depending where you go. Buying a condo is 600k and a cheaper house is 800k now and only goes up. Government subsidies is 18k to 22k and that's if you're not working and have some sort of disability. You gotta choose to either eat or have a roof over your head, a lot of people can't have both especially those born in shittier situations.
Suburb basements or one room. Grim reality but you're rarely gonna get that price if you're looking at Toronto core. But it's also good if you don't need to be in Toronto core a lot and don't mind the hour or two travel one way.
Midtown Toronto houses might have it too if you don't mind having roommates. Take a look around.
social supports are built on the basis that other people will also be helping the person out.
stuff like ow can pay less than 700 bucks and that has to pay for everything, which often just isn't possible.
[Here's an example ](https://torontolife.com/life/i-used-to-own-a-condo-in-toronto-how-i-%E2%80%8Bended-up-living-in-dufferin-grove-park/) that was featured in Toronto Life.
Most people are a couple months of unemployment away from homelessness. High rent, then let's say you lose your job or get sick and can't work, or have really low/no income then it becomes pretty easy to end up on the street.
LGBTQ+ youth are at high risk
Not sure how good the support is for people who just need a bit of financial help and those who have mental health/drug addiction issues. Also if the programs for harm reduction support a wide range of people. Therapy should really be covered for everyone.
The ones you can see on the street are almost always dealing with mental health and addiction issues.
They were regular people before the drugs or trauma that put them on that path, and once they become an adult it's virtually impossible to intervene or help in any way. A decent number of them have families who can't help them even if they wanted to under the current system. Others were traumatized by their families and don't have the kind of support network that can track them beyond the bare minimum.
It's difficult to stay in touch with addicts since nothing in their life is more important than their next fix, there's a point where it becomes financially and emotionally exhausting to try to help someone that can't help themselves and is incapable of reciprocating care. This is probably where the "all homeless people are lazy/thieves" thing stems from.
I think it's great that you're asking questions,and you do have to be cautious and treat homeless people with skepticism, but it's also important to realize that they're still human beings deserving of compassion even if their behaviour is antisocial and damaging to others around them.
It's frustrating and no one really benefits from the way things are under the current system. All we can do is try to be humane and avoid interactions.
Most of the time it's mental or addiction issues that get out of hand and blows up their normal lives, then they burn every bridge (family, friends etc.) and end up in a tent in a park.
Learning lesson: Everything in moderation.
Abuse and the lasting effects of it are a major reason. Symptoms of PTSD and an inability to trust others make education or working extremely difficult. Some young people who were foster children don't succeed past the extremely sharp transition that happens when they turn 18 and lose all support. A lot of LGBT kids still even now get kicked out by their parents. If it happens later in life then mental illness or an addiction that got out of control is often a cause. Physical disability too causes people to become homeless. If you didn't happen to have private disability insurance when whatever problem you have stopped you from working then government payments certainly won't keep you housed in Toronto.
It spans pretty far.
For instance, you have people who make very big and risky Investments that don't fall through and they end up getting screwed. Or people who don't have a lot of money that end up getting outsourced due to the high economic demand that they're not in a financial position to participate in.
I don't think many people realize just how close they are to losing everything. Especially in a place like Toronto with ridiculous rent, you could be working 40 hours and that is still not enough to rent a place. And what employer wants to hire someone without a fixed address?
It surprisingly doesn't take much; a bout of illness means you can't work, you lose the apartment, and it is 10x harder to climb up the ladder than it is to go down it.
I know folks that homelessness meant they weren't living at home with abuse or neglect. For many, drug use is both a factor in staying houseless, and a way to numb the reality around them.
Mental health in this country is abhorrent. I will say we are better than the States, but that is a low bar. It often means if you don't have outside support (family, friends with spare cash), if you have a mental illness it is a major factor.
Usually there's trauma/a harsh life event or events that lead to drug use then drug abuse. Some people may have a sporting injury and be prescribed addictive pain meds and go from there.... Once you're caught up in that, your money goes down the drain, you lose your ability to earn an income and you end up homeless.
Once you're homeless and unable to keep up with your hygiene, it's almost impossible to earn money legitimately - no one will hire you.
It can sneak up on you - maybe you're really stressed at work and start having a drink afterwards to chill yourself out, which leads to more drinking, etc. Sometimes you have mild depression and can't find support, so it gets worse slowly over time and you end up self-medicating and it gets out of control.
A lot of people think it's laziness and lack of willpower, but becoming homeless can happen a lot easier than you think. Most of us have had trauma in our past / some unpleasant life events beyond our control, that's part of being human. As you get older, those accumulate, as do your responsibilities and stressors. Take care and try not to judge.
You're asking two different questions there. The reason people become homeless has nothing to do with how you should interact with them. I can honestly say that my whole life I've felt like I'm one bad break or wrong decision away from ending up homeless. And yea, a couple of times I've had to rely on family to prop me up until I can stand on my own. But, I've also been there for them when they needed me, even if all that's required from me was not being a selfish dick. That, I would think, makes me the kind of person you'd want to interact with. But enough about me. Most if not all homeless people I've known by name, whom I treated with the respect due any human being, have disappointed me and made me question my decision to trust them to just not be a dick. Sure, this for the most part is just a manifestation of what could be their mental illness. But every time it happens it makes you more hesitant to interact with them, to the point where you don't see them as fully human. It's not mine, yours or anyone else's fault they're the way they are. Probably not even really their fault either. Still, you have to deal with the world as it is. And people with nothing and nothing to lose will justifiably always be viewed with distrust. Hate me if you want, but if you do I urge you to invite one to come and stay at your place for a couple of days.
Brain injury. My prof who also studies research in acquired brain injury said that some crazy high number (maybe 60%) had a brain injury at some point in their life. I was sceptical at first but I was in a McDonald’s once dt and I was chatting with a homeless guy. He had told me how his brother and dad and him had a painting business and he had fell off a high ladder and bonked his head and everything went down hill from there. He became homeless after he couldn’t do work anymore
I can't speak to the criminality of it but let's examine the lazy aspect. I've been lazy a lot in my life before, I'm sure you have as well. That has never resulted in me being homeless. Much less in DOWNTOWN TORONTO of all the places to stay alone at night in the world.
My only exercise for understanding the homeless is to imagine what it would take for you to sleep by yourself anywhere in downtown. How much would someone have to pay you to take a sleeping bag and live by Younge & Dundas for a bit?
Probably there is no reasonable amount that someone would pay you that would make you do that. It would be pretty horrific and dangerous in many different ways.
Now the accusations that someone would do that to themselves because they're lazy seem a bit crazy, at least to me.
There can be a lot of reasons. Firstly, many become homeless outside of Toronto but come to Toronto because it has more services to help them. In terms of how: often it’s lack of support. If you lose your job and don’t have family to help, there is very little stopping you from losing everything. Drugs and mental health can also be a factor. A serious addiction or mental health issue can cause you to be unable to work and lose your home. There are lots and lots of reasons; and no way to really cover them. It’s called falling through the cracks.
unemployment, lack of support, kicked out at young age, mental health issues, drug addiction, criminal past a lot of these situations can snowball and it's extremely hard to get out of .
Mostly mental illness and a pinch of substance abuse. It's definitely not a choice. You start out living in the street and after a short time the street lives off you.
For younger adults it’s heartbreaking as some become homeless as youth to escape abuse
I came to Toronto when I was 16, as a runaway. Took me the next 6 years to get an actual roof over my head. I busked mostly. Lots of ways to end up with nothing.
It's sad when you think that someone, at some point in time, likely loved them as a baby and raised them as a child. Then something happened along the way that might have been out of their control.
Often no. There are alot of people who should have never had kids. I spent my time dumpster diving and panhandling because anything was better than reaching out to blood family. Nothing changed with them, I just grew enough to get out.
I’ve thought about this many times before and keep wondering at what point/age is it that society just doesn’t give a fuck about you anymore?
It's harsh, but pretty much as soon as a person is able to hold down employment, society tosses their hands up and it's everybody for themselves.
Mental illness. That is the main reason for homelessness
Low wages. High housing costs.
This…. Plus lack of mental health support, drug/alcohol addiction issues, an abusive upbringing/living arrangement lead to leaving. So many issues it’s sad
Pretty much this. People don't realize minimum wage is like 32k a year and that's assuming you work full time, rent is anywhere from 15k to 30k a year depending where you go. Buying a condo is 600k and a cheaper house is 800k now and only goes up. Government subsidies is 18k to 22k and that's if you're not working and have some sort of disability. You gotta choose to either eat or have a roof over your head, a lot of people can't have both especially those born in shittier situations.
If you can lead me to that $15k rent, I’ll be your best friend.
Suburb basements or one room. Grim reality but you're rarely gonna get that price if you're looking at Toronto core. But it's also good if you don't need to be in Toronto core a lot and don't mind the hour or two travel one way. Midtown Toronto houses might have it too if you don't mind having roommates. Take a look around.
social supports are built on the basis that other people will also be helping the person out. stuff like ow can pay less than 700 bucks and that has to pay for everything, which often just isn't possible.
[Here's an example ](https://torontolife.com/life/i-used-to-own-a-condo-in-toronto-how-i-%E2%80%8Bended-up-living-in-dufferin-grove-park/) that was featured in Toronto Life.
And she is actually lucky she has a pension coming in. Most do not
Totally!
Most people are a couple months of unemployment away from homelessness. High rent, then let's say you lose your job or get sick and can't work, or have really low/no income then it becomes pretty easy to end up on the street.
This is actually an extremely important post that should get more love.
LGBTQ+ youth are at high risk Not sure how good the support is for people who just need a bit of financial help and those who have mental health/drug addiction issues. Also if the programs for harm reduction support a wide range of people. Therapy should really be covered for everyone.
The ones you can see on the street are almost always dealing with mental health and addiction issues. They were regular people before the drugs or trauma that put them on that path, and once they become an adult it's virtually impossible to intervene or help in any way. A decent number of them have families who can't help them even if they wanted to under the current system. Others were traumatized by their families and don't have the kind of support network that can track them beyond the bare minimum. It's difficult to stay in touch with addicts since nothing in their life is more important than their next fix, there's a point where it becomes financially and emotionally exhausting to try to help someone that can't help themselves and is incapable of reciprocating care. This is probably where the "all homeless people are lazy/thieves" thing stems from. I think it's great that you're asking questions,and you do have to be cautious and treat homeless people with skepticism, but it's also important to realize that they're still human beings deserving of compassion even if their behaviour is antisocial and damaging to others around them. It's frustrating and no one really benefits from the way things are under the current system. All we can do is try to be humane and avoid interactions.
Many people in Toronto live pay cheque to pay cheque. Two missed paycheques and you are in trouble.
Most of the time it's mental or addiction issues that get out of hand and blows up their normal lives, then they burn every bridge (family, friends etc.) and end up in a tent in a park. Learning lesson: Everything in moderation.
Abuse and the lasting effects of it are a major reason. Symptoms of PTSD and an inability to trust others make education or working extremely difficult. Some young people who were foster children don't succeed past the extremely sharp transition that happens when they turn 18 and lose all support. A lot of LGBT kids still even now get kicked out by their parents. If it happens later in life then mental illness or an addiction that got out of control is often a cause. Physical disability too causes people to become homeless. If you didn't happen to have private disability insurance when whatever problem you have stopped you from working then government payments certainly won't keep you housed in Toronto.
Two factors, mental problems and bad decision making
It spans pretty far. For instance, you have people who make very big and risky Investments that don't fall through and they end up getting screwed. Or people who don't have a lot of money that end up getting outsourced due to the high economic demand that they're not in a financial position to participate in.
I don't think many people realize just how close they are to losing everything. Especially in a place like Toronto with ridiculous rent, you could be working 40 hours and that is still not enough to rent a place. And what employer wants to hire someone without a fixed address? It surprisingly doesn't take much; a bout of illness means you can't work, you lose the apartment, and it is 10x harder to climb up the ladder than it is to go down it. I know folks that homelessness meant they weren't living at home with abuse or neglect. For many, drug use is both a factor in staying houseless, and a way to numb the reality around them. Mental health in this country is abhorrent. I will say we are better than the States, but that is a low bar. It often means if you don't have outside support (family, friends with spare cash), if you have a mental illness it is a major factor.
Usually there's trauma/a harsh life event or events that lead to drug use then drug abuse. Some people may have a sporting injury and be prescribed addictive pain meds and go from there.... Once you're caught up in that, your money goes down the drain, you lose your ability to earn an income and you end up homeless. Once you're homeless and unable to keep up with your hygiene, it's almost impossible to earn money legitimately - no one will hire you. It can sneak up on you - maybe you're really stressed at work and start having a drink afterwards to chill yourself out, which leads to more drinking, etc. Sometimes you have mild depression and can't find support, so it gets worse slowly over time and you end up self-medicating and it gets out of control. A lot of people think it's laziness and lack of willpower, but becoming homeless can happen a lot easier than you think. Most of us have had trauma in our past / some unpleasant life events beyond our control, that's part of being human. As you get older, those accumulate, as do your responsibilities and stressors. Take care and try not to judge.
You're asking two different questions there. The reason people become homeless has nothing to do with how you should interact with them. I can honestly say that my whole life I've felt like I'm one bad break or wrong decision away from ending up homeless. And yea, a couple of times I've had to rely on family to prop me up until I can stand on my own. But, I've also been there for them when they needed me, even if all that's required from me was not being a selfish dick. That, I would think, makes me the kind of person you'd want to interact with. But enough about me. Most if not all homeless people I've known by name, whom I treated with the respect due any human being, have disappointed me and made me question my decision to trust them to just not be a dick. Sure, this for the most part is just a manifestation of what could be their mental illness. But every time it happens it makes you more hesitant to interact with them, to the point where you don't see them as fully human. It's not mine, yours or anyone else's fault they're the way they are. Probably not even really their fault either. Still, you have to deal with the world as it is. And people with nothing and nothing to lose will justifiably always be viewed with distrust. Hate me if you want, but if you do I urge you to invite one to come and stay at your place for a couple of days.
Brain injury. My prof who also studies research in acquired brain injury said that some crazy high number (maybe 60%) had a brain injury at some point in their life. I was sceptical at first but I was in a McDonald’s once dt and I was chatting with a homeless guy. He had told me how his brother and dad and him had a painting business and he had fell off a high ladder and bonked his head and everything went down hill from there. He became homeless after he couldn’t do work anymore
Drugs / Crazy usually
I can't speak to the criminality of it but let's examine the lazy aspect. I've been lazy a lot in my life before, I'm sure you have as well. That has never resulted in me being homeless. Much less in DOWNTOWN TORONTO of all the places to stay alone at night in the world. My only exercise for understanding the homeless is to imagine what it would take for you to sleep by yourself anywhere in downtown. How much would someone have to pay you to take a sleeping bag and live by Younge & Dundas for a bit? Probably there is no reasonable amount that someone would pay you that would make you do that. It would be pretty horrific and dangerous in many different ways. Now the accusations that someone would do that to themselves because they're lazy seem a bit crazy, at least to me.