“I walked a way from school when I was in Grade 8. From there, I started having problems.”
I was born on January 29, 1959 in Toronto. I lived with my mother until I was a teenager. I walked away from school when I was in Grade 8. From there, I started having problems. I was taken to many different hospitals. The first was the Orillia Mental Health Centre where I stayed for many years, on and off.
When I was twenty years old, I was sent to Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, then to Oakville Hospital and finally to the Queen Street Mental Health Centre.
I was thirty-two years old when I left Queen Street Mental Health Centre. I was living on my own for a few years but I had a lot of problems. Eventually, I ended up on the streets and lived there for many years.
I could not use the shelters because people were picking on me and bothering me. Also, I was barred from many shelters and was not even allowed to go in for food. I was getting food from places like Kensington Market but I was also getting arrested a lot for small problems.
I used to sleep in people’s garages when it was really cold. Most of the time people would call the cops on me and I would be arrested and charged with break and enter.
I spent many years in prison for such things. One time, after I got out of prison, I was told there was no more Family Benefits Allowance (FBA). I had no income and didn’t know how to apply for some. I lived without any money, just begging for food.
Then I met Sara Vance, a member of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and she took me to Street Health. That was in 1998, after I had been on the streets for 8 years or so. Street Health helped me to get income with the Ontario Disability Support Program. They also helped by providing bail for me so I could stay out of jail and look for housing.
After one year, Street Health found me an apartment with the Good Sheppard Program. I first lived at Gerrard and Logan where I stayed for four years.
I kept my apartment clean and paid rent every month, without fail. Then some of the tenants started giving me problems and I was moved to Gerrard and Sherbourne where I have stayed till today. It’s been three and a half years.
I like my apartment very much and it is always clean. Since moving to my apartment, I have few problems with police.