Since 2009, Edmonton, along with 12 other Canadian cities, has been implementing a Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness. Unlike other “plans,” this one does not merely set a target and hope it comes true; solid work is being done to provide housing and prevent future homelessness.

Socks, toothpaste, tampons, tissues and a handwritten note from a teenager aren’t likely to rewrite a life story that includes  sleeping in shelters, seeking comfort in opioids and waking up in the emergency room at St. Michael’s Hospital. 

Some nights it does not take long for the temperature to plummet. I don’t mean the thermometer, but the temperature of the street. 

Recently I found myself in the basement of a downtown church surrounded by a confirmation class of children, teachers and parents. The church sits in an area where the outreach of the Church on the Street is most challenging, and the class had responded to the call of Pope Francis in The Joy of the Gospel: “We cannot passively and calmly wait in our church buildings; we need to move from a passive ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral mission.” 

One Sunday morning in church, I wondered why the person beside me was breathing so loudly. Did he have some terrible lung ailment? Was he about to expire? It sounded almost like… snoring. 

The journey home can be hard, but it’s harder for the homeless.

Unless you have been homeless, as Mary and Joseph were on that first Christmas, it is difficult to understand the deep peace a roof over your head can bring.

The money helps, but Ontario’s new initiatives to help victims of domestic abuse and human trafficking still face some hurdles, warns Catholic Family Services of Toronto.

The universality of the Catholic Church is never more evident than in the sacraments and the love for the poor. These foundation stones inform its spiritual life and stand as an eternal witness to the love of Christ. 

There are few, if any, parishes in Toronto that had three shooting deaths in the first month of the year and followed them up with two more in the next few months. Add to this an epidemic of drug overdoses and a picture of lawlessness could emerge.

MONTREAL – Claude Paradis was impoverished and homeless, living on the streets of Montreal. He struggled with addiction to both alcohol and drugs, with a future so bleak, he considered ending his own life.

TORONTO – Nick Beckett is an impressive young man in his third year at the University of Toronto working towards a criminology degree. As he makes his way through exams, he’s also heading up a new non-profit which aims to provide a home and transitional programs to young people who age out of the child welfare system.

MONTREAL - Pope Francis has been invited to Montreal in 2017 to participate in celebrations marking the city’s 375th anniversary.

TORONTO - Covenant House is stepping up to give young women and girls caught in the grip of the sex trade a way out.

When temperatures dropped to -12 degrees Celsius in early January, a homeless man dressed only in a t-shirt and jeans was stuck on the cold streets of downtown Toronto. Vulnerable to the freezing temperature and bitter winds, he sought protection in a bus shelter.