Street Haven at The Crossroads

I told the staff I didn't feel safe returning because my mother was jumped by 3 residents the staff didn't care and said i needed to return for the night anyway.

Standing up for rights is looked at as aggressive behavior. Slandered my name to another client and breached my confidential information. Human rights file case pending. I always recommend this shelter to woman in need and got nothing but the worst. Proof to back up my word.

Very serious human rights violations/neglect/ abuse have been going on by staff. Namely, Bobbi, Kim & Neesha. I first came to street haven Dec 2016. While I was there they used to kick all of the homeless women out of the shelter on Saturdays. I was going to school full time and volunteering while I was staying here, so this didn't bother me too much. On occasional Saturdays, I, as well as certain women with health problems were allowed to rest, my worker Nicola was an advocate for me and worked with staff so that I was able to rest,so I may go to school and work on gaining housing and employment. - as well I would get a saved dinner 6ish days a week because I would come in past 5pm most days. Staff were happier, and the door to the office was almost always open. Women were allowed to visit the downstairs donation room for clothing /shoes/tampons/ bras etc. I transitioned into FRED VICTOR,which Lynda and Jane have been trained to sell as a solution, when really its not, and most women that have gone to Fred Victor end up back homeless. - anyways I ended up saving about three thousand dollars while living at Fred Victor for first and last at 109 Pembroke. I lost my job to sexual harrassment right when Bobbi came back from maternal leave. I don't think Bobbi should have her job, when I went to her in crises, after having gone through sexual abuse at my job and working so hard to get my place, I had my LL's Steve and Vivian who work as poverty pimps slip an eviction notice under my door on the very first of June - when I went to Bobbi, she shrugged her shoulders and said there's nothing she could do, which was a lie - there is a emergency fund I would have been able to access from the city of Toronto to prevent losing my apartment. I was in too much crises to find this out until later. I ended up moving in with my ex out of necessity, and fear and trauma of shelters. I left in a haste from my apartment, in a state of crises, most of my valuables were left and lost. After moving in with my ex, he became progressively more abusive and ended up beating me. I had a tax return come back which I was able to fund a plane ticket out of town with. ... This place used to be the closest thing to home I had. When I came back, about two weeks ago, things were much different. Much of the compassionate & involved staff working there, April, Mel, Bailey, Nicola, had all left. Women were no longer able to go into the donations room themselves, staff would go down and bring up something. The nicer staff would bring me up half decent clothing, the vindictive staff would use it as a power over you- addiontally, on this note **** DO NOT DONATE THINGS HERE*** I have seen staff take donations for themselves & then tell residents there isn't anything down stairs, when I see huge piles of donations coming in... Also, the staff I longer save dinners for women who have workout volunteering - yet every staff member helps themselves to the food donated by second harvest and cooked by the shelter cook. - when I came back and asked to have something to eat, Kim and Neesha both said it's whatevers on the counter - overcooked,hotdogs that have been sitting for over 4 hours, and bread. I am vegetarian and have trouble eating to begin with.but health is important if you eat bread every day you will become malnourished - it is a form of violence. Neesha refused to get an adult diapers from downstairs out of laziness for an elderly woman over 70. The elderly woman ended up wetting herself. Neesha told her to clean it up. Two Fridays ago they kicked all of the women out of the shelter in 30 degree weather,with no indication of local drop in's. I had received a threatening message about someone telling my ex where I was living and was petrified. Other women have health problems,or abusive ex partners, drugs addictions, people came home exhausted, with swollen feet, or high. They say girls can work nights, but then they come into the rooms and wake everyone up and 8:45. They lock the bedrooms at 10am and there's 4 showers/ 50 women.

I lived at street haven in 2015 to 2016. I felt safe and cared about while living there. After almost a year I got into transitional housing at Fred Victor. Being persistent I asked Bobbie to help me find a place, and she did. I paid market rent for a few years and then was accepted into street haven housing. Being non binary as I transitioned into housing was accepted and I have lived contently in the housing program for a few years. Since then I have grown into my own and started recently working again after not working for almost 10 years because of mental health. The shelter had to in a sense throw me into the water so I could swim on my own again which at first felt uncomfortable but now I understand why, they saw I was more capable and I needed space from relying on workers so I could make a life for myself outside the shelter environment. We agreed, we disagreed on things but I can honestly say they did what was best for me and my goals. Now I have been setting my sights higher and Bobbie has been solid through the whole experience. Expect to get tough ?? love from the staff as it will only help you in the end. The shelter is a starting point not the only point. Thank you too everyone who helped on this journey of mine , and cudos to the workers , and the people behind the scenes to offer support to people getting back on their feet.

The best place ever. Supportive people. Very home, and welcoming with lots of great experiences. I can say. Most of the girls there are trauma experienced sad, hurt. Everyone has their own experiences for the most. I didn’t like my room as at night the girl across from my bunk bed would put music on when we tried to sleep. The other woman, would wrap her marijuana in the room (I kind of found that odd really) I told the staff. One girl was laughing and she got up and did some weird stuff and the other lady got up and was disrupted and upset. These experiences are very scary. Make sure your in a safe place.