Blog
Crowded cots on a gymnasium floor in a Toronto community centre show poor physical distancing. Image: Cathy Crowe
Fifty days into the COVID-19 pandemic, and homeless people are still in a desperate situation
Cathy Crowe | Homeless people across the country remain at risk in the pandemic, necessitating legal action by Toronto advocates.
Blog
Image: Contributed photo
This is not a game. Hotels are the only defence for homeless people in a pandemic
Cathy Crowe | Around the world hotels are being used to shelter homeless people from COVID-19.
Activist Toolkit
Coronavirus. Image: Centers for Disease Control
Demand that the most vulnerable in Canada be protected during COVID-19 outbreak
| The underfunding of the public sector is having an impact.
Blog
Image: Prachatai/Flickr
Toronto's homeless people deserve a COVID-19 plan
Cathy Crowe | Public health officials have so far failed to develop a plan for homeless populations amid the global COVID-19 outbreak.
Blog
A microscopic image that shows the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Image: U.S. National Institutes of Health
Shelters are like a petri dish waiting for COVID-19 to arrive
Cathy Crowe | Public health officials continue to reassure that Canada is at low risk for virus spread. But what about the homeless?
Blog
Crowded cots in the hallway warming centre at Metro Hall. Image: Contributed/Cathy Crowe.
There is no 'Winterlicious' festival for Toronto's homeless people
Cathy Crowe | While Toronto is in the midst of a culinary event called "Winterlicious," homeless people in Toronto's warming centre receive brown bag meals.
Blog
Overcrowded respite site showing cots close together. Image: Provided by Cathy Crowe
What would Florence Nightingale say about this new coronavirus?
Cathy Crowe | The homelessness emergency and shelter overcrowding demonstrate lessons have not been learned since the 2003 SARS outbreak.
Blog
A homeless person sleeps next to Santa's sleigh on a main street in Toronto. Image: Cathy Crowe
Canada's brutal decade of homelessness
Cathy Crowe | Cities across the country are evicting people from outdoor tent encampments. Without a national housing program or municipal support for shelters, the homelessness crisis has become an emergency.
Blog
Activists hold a banner at a vigil hat says "Declare an Emergency." Image: Cathy Crowe
Toronto needs to declare homelessness an emergency to prevent more deaths and suffering
Cathy Crowe | Toronto's Shelter and Housing Justice Network takes an extreme measure and calls for the mayor to declare a state of emergency on homelessness.
Blog
Metro Hall cooling centre showing a table with granola bar and water. Image: Cathy Crowe
Splash pads and swimming pools are not a response to climate change for vulnerable populations
Cathy Crowe | Toronto city council's recent declaration of a climate emergency is meaningless without measures to protect its most vulnerable citizens.
Blog
Photo: Cathy Crowe
Integrity in journalism counts
Cathy Crowe | Following her mom's lessons on advocacy, Cathy Crowe complained to the Toronto Sun when she was repeatedly called a "poverty pimp."
News
Aly Velji (left) and Rahma Hashi (right) participated in a packed panel discussion at the Ontario Library Association’s Super Conference in January 2019. Image: Olivia Robinson/rabble
How Canada's largest library system is removing barriers and advancing inclusion
Olivia Robinson | The Toronto Public Library is continually looking to extend its reach beyond its four walls to connect with people, including those who may never have stepped inside the library before.