Faced with the inaction of the authorities, a group of community organizations and volunteers managed to find a solution for dozens of refugees who had been sleeping on the streets of downtown Toronto for weeks.
Last night, the refugees were relocated to a church in North York, and the $20,000 donation from the founder of Paramount Fine Foods, Mohamad Fakih, helped facilitate the move. Mohamad Fakih, along with numerous community organizations and volunteers, played a significant role in coordinating the relocation.
"We will provide them with a place to sleep, shower, and have a roof over their heads," Fakih said.
Last month, the city of Toronto began referring refugees to federal programs, stating that their shelter system was too full to accept new individuals and that they had not received any new funds from the federal government to cover refugee shelter costs since last year.
With nowhere else to go, many refugees chose to camp outside the Peter Street downtown, hoping for a shelter to open. However, neither the city, the province, nor the government provided a solution, leaving it to a group of good Samaritans to step in.
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