For Immediate Release						
May 13, 2003

300 Deaths amongst Toronto's Homeless

TORONTO - The Church of the Holy Trinity and the Toronto Disaster Relief
Committee have added the 300th name to Toronto's Homeless Memorial. This
memorial recognizes and remembers the men, women and children who have
lived on the streets of Toronto and died as a direct result of
homelessness.

At a regular noon-hour vigil on May 13 the names of four homeless
individuals were added bringing the total to 300. Two of the latest
additions were "John Does", while the other two were Jennie Youngchief
who died earlier this winter, and Judy Roberts who died Easter Weekend.

Tanya Gulliver, Social Justice Worker at Holy Trinity maintains the
memorial and has seen the list grow over the last few years. "In the
last two and a half years we have recorded just under 100 new deaths.
100 people who died because they were homeless." 

"In 1996 a coroner's jury into three freezing deaths made the
determination that housing was required to prevent further homeless
deaths," states Cathy Crowe, founder of the TDRC and a street nurse in
Toronto. "While we wait for housing we have witnessed a slaughter.
Deaths in the Don Valley, under the Gardiner, in bus shelters, in
parking garages, on grates, in Allen Gardens, Osgoode Hall.....Deaths
due to trauma, murder, fire, suicide. My death file is bulging, and THAT
is obscene." 

"One of the saddest parts of this list is that we know we are missing
many people," says Gulliver. "There have been many more deaths than
those we have recorded. People are slipping through the cracks, and we
should all be outraged."

There will be an Interfaith Homeless Memorial Vigil on Wednesday, May
14th at 6:30pm to honour these 300 individuals, and the many more who
have perished on the streets of our city. Holy Trinity is at 10 Trinity
Square, next to the Eaton Centre.

-30-


For more information

Tanya Gulliver - 416-598-4521 ext 225