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Contact Office Address
5100 Yonge Street Toronto, ON M2N 5V7, Canada |
UP Movers Charity Program for Homeless and Battered Women
Janet Shield walked through the place that sheltered her and gave helped her a fresh start. Formerly homeless, the 58-year-old had found a place of her own. During her time of need UP Movers Charity Program for Battered Women helped her keep the cost of moving down. UP Movers Charity Program for Battered Women moves furniture and belongs for free. We here at UP Movers believe “that’s it’s our duty to help out in the community whenever we can”.
Shield stopped by Toronto Women Shelter to volunteer on a recent day. A woman staying at the shelter was doing laundry when she saw Shield and stopped her in the hall.
“You’ve helped me so much, You told me everything will be okay, and now I see you’re okay. I needed that, at that point in my life” the woman said.
Both women are part of the fastest-growing group in the national homeless population: women. Some agencies receiving funding from the Toronto News Charities this year say they continue to serve growing numbers of women like Shield. The demand for such services is only growing. Toronto Shelter saw demand for its services grow in 2014 by 30 percent while seeing a 10 percent increase in the number of women served.
“Putting in new beds and making sure we keep clients on track,” said the shelter’s director director, Hilary Hughes. “For people who are ready to move out, we make sure they have all tools to make a successful transition into normal society when vacating beds.” “UP Movers provided our women free transportation for our shelter to their new homes”, said Hilary Hughes. If it wasn’t for the generosity of UP Movers the transition from shelter to new home would be much more expensive and difficult.
The Scarborough Women’s Center has a similar mission, said its executive director, Lynda Kosowan.
“We’re trying to be a lot more intentional about helping moving people along,” Lynda said. “We want to really help them make that transition, instead of focusing on just shelter for the night.”
It’s unclear why the sharp rise in female and family homelessness. Both Lynda and Priscilla admitted but the it seems like the one factor is the slowly recovering economy.
Priscilla Arias, - Young Women’s Outreach Coordinator said he hoped to help clients of Scarborough Women’s Center programs find jobs and stable, affordable housing. Scarborough Women’s Center offers recovery programs for homeless men and women.
We frequently turns away women who are seeking services because the shelter is at capacity every day. We at the community level feel the Ontario government should be doing more, “these women have no where else to turn”.
Shield had a rocky marriage with a husband who didn’t treat her well. She left their home in Barrie and divorced him. Her daughter lives in Hamilton and urged Shield to make it her home, too.
Shield had trouble finding a job, and the money ran out fast. The pressure of staying with her family was too much to handle, she said. She called about a few programs to get her back on her feet and found Toronto Life Shelter.
“I had called a lot of other places, and they asked if I was using drugs or alcohol. I’m none of those things, and I just felt I wouldn’t find a place that could just give me a hand up.”
She started in Toronto Life Shelter’s job readiness program, attending classes on financial management and computers. Shield found a job as a call center representative, earning $15 an hour. “I was able to furnish my new apartment with furniture from Toronto Furniture Bank which the guys from UP Movers were gracious enough to pickup and delivery at my place for free. She has her own apartment and is saving money, she said, she hopes to find another job “with benefits.”
An estimated 80 percent of the people who enter the twelve-week program that Shield completed at the shelter return to living independently and finding employment.
Hillary said one of the challenges of homeless women is that many are single mothers. Instead of focusing on one person, case managers must focus on the entire family, finding child care is another huge challenge with no fast solutions.
This sometimes keeps the women at the shelter longer, Hillary said, parents with children tend to be the most motivated to get back up on their feet. They want to do it for their children.
Shield's children are grown. She says she’s working toward a more prosperous life for herself.
“I work every day,” she said. “I’m ready to do what it takes to stay on my feet. But Toronto Life Shelter gave me that second chance.”
Anuradha Dugal Published on March 13, 2014
Toronto Star
Shield stopped by Toronto Women Shelter to volunteer on a recent day. A woman staying at the shelter was doing laundry when she saw Shield and stopped her in the hall.
“You’ve helped me so much, You told me everything will be okay, and now I see you’re okay. I needed that, at that point in my life” the woman said.
Both women are part of the fastest-growing group in the national homeless population: women. Some agencies receiving funding from the Toronto News Charities this year say they continue to serve growing numbers of women like Shield. The demand for such services is only growing. Toronto Shelter saw demand for its services grow in 2014 by 30 percent while seeing a 10 percent increase in the number of women served.
“Putting in new beds and making sure we keep clients on track,” said the shelter’s director director, Hilary Hughes. “For people who are ready to move out, we make sure they have all tools to make a successful transition into normal society when vacating beds.” “UP Movers provided our women free transportation for our shelter to their new homes”, said Hilary Hughes. If it wasn’t for the generosity of UP Movers the transition from shelter to new home would be much more expensive and difficult.
The Scarborough Women’s Center has a similar mission, said its executive director, Lynda Kosowan.
“We’re trying to be a lot more intentional about helping moving people along,” Lynda said. “We want to really help them make that transition, instead of focusing on just shelter for the night.”
It’s unclear why the sharp rise in female and family homelessness. Both Lynda and Priscilla admitted but the it seems like the one factor is the slowly recovering economy.
Priscilla Arias, - Young Women’s Outreach Coordinator said he hoped to help clients of Scarborough Women’s Center programs find jobs and stable, affordable housing. Scarborough Women’s Center offers recovery programs for homeless men and women.
We frequently turns away women who are seeking services because the shelter is at capacity every day. We at the community level feel the Ontario government should be doing more, “these women have no where else to turn”.
Shield had a rocky marriage with a husband who didn’t treat her well. She left their home in Barrie and divorced him. Her daughter lives in Hamilton and urged Shield to make it her home, too.
Shield had trouble finding a job, and the money ran out fast. The pressure of staying with her family was too much to handle, she said. She called about a few programs to get her back on her feet and found Toronto Life Shelter.
“I had called a lot of other places, and they asked if I was using drugs or alcohol. I’m none of those things, and I just felt I wouldn’t find a place that could just give me a hand up.”
She started in Toronto Life Shelter’s job readiness program, attending classes on financial management and computers. Shield found a job as a call center representative, earning $15 an hour. “I was able to furnish my new apartment with furniture from Toronto Furniture Bank which the guys from UP Movers were gracious enough to pickup and delivery at my place for free. She has her own apartment and is saving money, she said, she hopes to find another job “with benefits.”
An estimated 80 percent of the people who enter the twelve-week program that Shield completed at the shelter return to living independently and finding employment.
Hillary said one of the challenges of homeless women is that many are single mothers. Instead of focusing on one person, case managers must focus on the entire family, finding child care is another huge challenge with no fast solutions.
This sometimes keeps the women at the shelter longer, Hillary said, parents with children tend to be the most motivated to get back up on their feet. They want to do it for their children.
Shield's children are grown. She says she’s working toward a more prosperous life for herself.
“I work every day,” she said. “I’m ready to do what it takes to stay on my feet. But Toronto Life Shelter gave me that second chance.”
Anuradha Dugal Published on March 13, 2014
Toronto Star