What do you think is the root cause of homelessness?

Homelessness – The Root Causes – Part I
Several nights a week I travel the the downtown streets of Toronto with groups of volunteers delivering bag lunch meals to the homeless. We call it a Sandwich Run – each bag lunch contains a sandwich, an apple, a snack like a granola bar or rice crispy square [...]

GeoCities closing – the original Mission_log site moves here to WordPress

Sad but true, Geocities is closing –
I created one of my first websites there – called it the Mission_log, it was located at http://ca.geocities.com/mission_log/ (it’s still there until Yahoo! pulls the plug on all the sites later this summer) I’ve been referring web visitors here to the new WordPress Mission Log since September of [...]

Project417 Online Newsletter – June 2009

StreetLife – Project417 – June 2009 Vol 6 Issue 8

Our friend Chuck – his portrait at the ROM exhibition June 2009

Dear Friends,
Thanks for reading the online version of the Project417 newsletter. This will give you the latest updates on Project417’s ongoing mission to the homeless. We’d like you to be able to read more, but [...]

Hurricane Ike Photos – Texas Disaster Relief – Galveston Cty

The aftermath of Hurricane Ike – most of the photos taken by me volunteering with Project417 and the Salvation Army from Sept. 26th to October 9th, 2008. Location: Texas – Houston, Pasadena, Galveston County, Seabrook, Kemah, Bacliff, San Leon. So many of them remind me of working in the Lower Ninth – New Orleans after [...]

Gulf Coast New Orleans Spared as Gustav Downgraded and Passes Through

Thankfully, Hurricane Gustav weakened before striking the gulf coast and passing New Orleans. According to news reports, Hurricane Gustav was downgraded to Category 2 hurricane before making landfall about a hundred miles to the south west of New Orleans in the Cajun bayou country of coastal Louisiana. Although Gustav packed a punch, with strong winds [...]

New Orleans, Gulf Coast Brace for Hurricane Gustav Monday, and Tropical Storm Hannah on its Heels

Hurricane Gustav will reach major hurricane status by the time it reaches the central Gulf coast early in the week. Uncertainty still remains about whether Hanna will add to the misery by late next week. The current forecast takes the eye of Gustav into the coast of Louisiana, west of the Mississippi Delta, late on [...]

Private security in Toronto Chinatown sparks safety debate

Excerpt from – Allison Hanes, National Post – For a week now, a pair of private security guards have been walking the beat in Toronto’s Chinatown hired by the local BIA. So far more than two dozen “banning orders” have been issued against disruptive undesirables. Dave Wilson,of Toronto Police, complained that lesser-trained employees lower standards…
“Randy [...]

Violent Crime, Not Homeless – Real Problem in Toronto Chinatown

Man faces 12 charges – Firearm seized Dundas Street West/Spadina Avenue Chinatown
On Monday, August 18, 2008, at 7:40 p.m., 14 Division Community Response officers were on patrol in the Dundas Street West/Spadina Avenue area.
It is alleged that the accused was in possession of a loaded firearm, the accused fled on foot, the accused was arrested [...]

Message From Mayor to Private Security Firms Harassing the Homeless in Toronto: Let the City Handle It

Toronto Sun, Aug.21, 2008 – Let city handle it, Mayor David Miller says:
“Chinatown shopkeepers should let the city do its job — but with social workers not police, Mayor David Miller said yesterday. Miller said he didn’t support the hiring of a private security firm to patrol the streets of the busy Spadina Ave.-area to [...]

Toronto Propane Blast Leaves Thousands Temporarily Homeless

The blast, in the early morning hours on Sunday, prompted the evacuation of over 10,000 people – first to an evacuation centre set up at Downsview, then switched to the better equipped York University’s Tait Mackenzie Centre. Most people found shelter with friends or family but hundreds were forced to stay at the evacuation site [...]