Community meeting on Gerrard Street East homeless shelter plan slated for Monday, June 16, in southwest Scarborough
An in-person community consultation meeting on the proposed homeless shelter on Gerrard Street East in southwest Scarborough is set to take place on the evening of Monday, June 16.
Organized by Scarborough Southwest Councillor Parthi Kandeval, the meeting will take place at Birchcliff Bluffs United Church (33 East Rd. near Warden Avenue and Kingston Road) from 6 to 8 p.m.
The intent of the meeting is to give area residents a chance to learn more about the 80-bed homeless shelter being proposed for the 2535 Gerrard St. E. site, which is located on the south side of the road between Blantyre Avenue and Clonmore Drive.
Those attending the meeting will be able to hear directly from city staff about the shelter plans and to ask questions in person.
“I encourage all residents to attend and be part of the discussion,” said Kandeval in a recent newsletter making constituents aware of Monday’s meeting.
The proposal for the homeless shelter on Gerrard Street East has raised major concerns among area residents for a number of reasons including the “secrecy” on the part of the City of Toronto in the early stages of acquiring the property which was a former commercial/industrial site.
In a Beach Metro Community News story from November of last year, Kandavel expressed his own concerns about the project when it came to the city’s transparency on the issue. “What is required is more transparency on how city staff make these decisions about where they’re located,” said Kandavel in the Beach Metro story. “There’s no doubt everyone recognizes the need for shelters. Where we place them is the question.”
At the time, the City of Toronto said staff was operating under a process which did not include ward councillors as part of the process involved in determining locations for shelters in order to take “politics” out of the decisions.
An earlier community meeting on the Gerrard Street East shelter plan was held in January for southwest Scarborough residents. Along with the lack of transparency by the city in the early stages of the proposal, that meeting also heard concerns from residents about public safety, and the perceived concentration of homeless shelters in southwest Scarborough.
