Toronto's shelter program keeps people homeless and dependent
Episode Stats
Words per minute
152.01486
Harmful content
Toxicity
2
sentences flagged
Summary
In this episode, we talk to Scott Tulpin, a homeless man who lives in a downtown Toronto hotel. He tells us about the dangers of living in the city s homeless shelters, the rampant drug dealing, and the lack of accountability in the system.
Transcript
00:00:00.240
Behind me is the Strathcona Hotel, one of three downtown hotels the city has leased
00:00:05.960
over the last two and a half years to house homeless clients.
00:00:10.240
These hotels have completely changed the complexion of the downtown neighbourhoods where they
00:00:17.280
We met Scott Tulpin, who is a homeless client at the Strathcona Hotel.
00:00:22.640
The 31-year-old man works for a living, which appears to be a rarity in the homeless population
00:00:30.700
Now, you work, but you're still living in the hotel-shelter system.
00:00:37.380
Well, it's really hard to escape poverty when every time you turn around and try and get
00:00:42.780
out, the economic bar has been raised, rent is more expensive, and the quality of housing
00:00:51.100
If I was making a certain amount of money, I should be able to afford my own house and
00:00:55.420
But when I go back, I live in welfare bum homes, drug dens and all that, because that's the
00:01:01.420
only affordable housing at my level, because rents have gone up and it's just like, what
00:01:13.420
Unlike the narrative that is coming from Toronto City Hall and Mayor John Tory that the homeless
00:01:17.640
clients in these hotels are getting job counseling and housing assistance, Scott says he hasn't
00:01:25.800
spoken to anyone in the months since he's been in the shelter to help him with anything.
00:01:32.320
I haven't talked to anyone besides when I did my initial intake.
00:01:36.860
And it's really bizarre because back in the day, you would have a whole plan of care where
00:01:41.840
your social worker would talk to you about your employment goals, your education goals,
00:01:47.380
the health care you needed, mental health resources, and all these other things.
00:01:59.720
So nobody's putting together a plan of care for you in the Strathcona right now.
00:02:10.120
Like I just wake up in the morning, go to work, come back.
00:02:17.360
Scott spoke of the rampant drug dealing in the two shelters where he has been located,
00:02:24.160
the Delta Hotel and this one behind me, and the fact that there are absolutely no consequences
00:02:33.820
The Delta is by far, far worse than the Strathcona where I'm staying right now.
00:02:39.940
You had people of all ages, some 15 years old, and in the care of Children's Aid, and they'd
00:02:48.500
be living and housed co-ed with people who are 50 years old, criminal record, alcoholics, drug addicts.
00:03:00.380
I witnessed sexual assaults, I witnessed physical assaults.
00:03:07.180
I'd walk down the hallways and people would be like, do you want to buy drugs?
00:03:16.860
Hey, I actually changed my mind, uh, is there anything I can get for five bucks?
00:03:23.820
The staff kept me up all night last night, and I need something to just pick me up.
00:03:52.480
There's a drug problem in every shelter in the city, whether it be a hostel, dorm style
00:04:03.620
And I would say sometimes in the hotels, it's even worse because you can go hide in your
00:04:09.220
room in the shelter, but you can't do that in a dorm style.
00:04:13.380
So I'd say the hotels could actually be a little bit more dangerous because they're not visible
00:04:20.740
or interacting because they can just hide in their room all day.
00:04:24.180
As I've tried to make it very clear during my years covering the homeless cause,
00:04:28.340
I am not against providing the homeless with assistance when they're down and out.
00:04:35.460
What I've found though, in my travels, is that a huge amount of money is being poured into
00:04:42.900
what has become an industry that provides the homeless with a handout, but not a hand up.
00:04:53.140
Like you can give someone food, you can give them clothing, you can give them hygiene,
00:05:01.940
The city will even give people cell phones so that they aren't as isolated and can
00:05:08.260
talk to their probation officer or maybe get a job interview.
00:05:12.820
So they give free cell phones to homeless residents as well?
00:05:18.500
Yeah. Basically all that stuff that they're providing, it's just free stuff.
00:05:27.780
Do they give them any mental health counseling?
00:05:35.860
I have not met a single person that works there.
00:05:38.980
And in fact, in my homeless stint, I've only met one other person.
00:05:43.140
Well, two actually that have had employment, but it's like a needle in a haystack.
00:05:48.340
Like there's no motivation for anyone to work because why would you work when you can
00:05:54.020
maintain your addiction and be provided housing and food and all these other things?
00:06:00.420
I'm not saying that we shouldn't provide people with these things, but there's also
00:06:05.380
the accountability aspect that is gravely neglected in all of these situations.
00:06:10.900
You had this theory about work first versus homes first. Explain that to me.
00:06:15.460
Well, homes first is the idea that they should focus on housing and get someone housed before
00:06:22.420
they even address any of the other problems that that person may be experiencing.
00:06:32.420
Like get these people housing, that's going to help them.
00:06:34.980
But first of all, you don't want to just throw someone who is experiencing addiction
00:06:39.380
and mental health issues into a house on their own where they're going to have even less
00:06:44.100
interaction with the outside world and community.
00:06:48.180
And on top of that, you should be focusing on work first, because once you start working,
00:06:54.340
you can afford housing, at least in an ideal economy.
00:06:58.340
But not even just that, you can make sure that your work is located close to your house,
00:07:04.420
so that that saves you time and energy so that you don't have to go through
00:07:09.220
all that hassle of taking transit for an hour and a half to get to work in the morning.
00:07:16.100
And especially if you're in a mental health and addiction state, you're not going to have
00:07:20.980
necessarily the same energy or motivation to get to work.
00:07:24.180
So any barriers that you reduce on your way there, it's just common sense really, right?
00:07:30.340
What Scott suggested very strongly is that there's absolutely no incentive in these shelters
00:07:36.980
to become a viable member of society. In other words, to end homelessness.
00:07:42.660
I don't think anyone in this city has actually experienced real levels of poverty,
00:07:48.100
just because we live such a privileged lifestyle.
00:07:52.020
Are you talking about homeless people or people beyond being homeless?
00:07:54.820
People in general. Our modern life is so convenient and there's not as many challenges
00:08:03.220
as back in the day where you would have to break your back just to have three square meals a day
00:08:08.500
and a roof over your head. The game has completely changed.