1849

June 29
Founder John Coolidge Davis is born.

1896

The Mission Begins
The Mission starts humbly enough, with a “Gospel Wagon” that hands out food and clothing, and progresses to a rented storefront on Yonge Street. The founder is John Coolidge “Hallelujah” Davis. Yonge Street Mission gets it name.

1900

Winter
The blizzard had sent men scurrying off the streets and into the Mission. But there was little change in the temperature, because the Mission was both out of coal and out of funds. Even as they prayed they heard, above the howling of the wind, the first of a wagonload of coal bumped onto the floor. The donor promised them all the coal they could use. A stranger walked into the Mission one day, and seeing a long line of hungry men and sensing the tight budget of the Mission, sent along 6,000 loaves of bread and provided 50 gallons of milk each day for the rest of the winter. He also soon delivered cartloads of potatoes, 250 bags of beans, 150 sacks of cornmeal, 150 sacks of oatmeal and 150 bags of flour. He then added some money, so that the families being cared for by the Mission would have meals three times a day during that cold, cold winter.

1897-1904

The Mission is relocated to rented premises at Yonge and Shuter Streets.

1904

The move to 381 Yonge Street
Needless to say, the Mission outgrows its premises quickly. In spring of 1904, through the kindness of friends, a new building is purchased at 381 Yonge Street. The new space has a kitchen and clothes room, and a seating capacity of 500.

1914

Yonge Street Mission is incorporated.

YSM’s 1914 Annual Report states:
YSM distributes 72,879 loaves of bread, 11,104 pints of milk, 4,880 packages of flour and other staples. Total attendance for the year is 48,909 visits. The total revenues of the Mission are $3,575.13, and expenditures are $3,529.30. It costs $9.67 a day to run the Mission, and they have a 39-day buffer for expenses.

1921

YSM is protected from harm, even though the buildings next to it are badly damaged by fire.

The shrieks of terror-stricken women aroused the neighbourhood at Yonge and Gerrard Streets in the early-morning hours of January 28, 1921. The great Forum Building was a raging inferno of fire, and the shrieks were of people who had barely managed to escape. Beside the Forum was the much smaller Yonge Street Mission, with only a brick wall as a fireguard between the two buildings. There was not so much as a blister of paint or stain of smoke on this building. For seven hours, Toronto’s firefighters battled the blaze as the chilly night air was heated by its flames. The Mission, instead of going about a rescue operation for itself, was open for business with coffee and sandwiches for the men who worked so hard. To a man, they wanted to save the Mission.

1929

The Great Depression hits. YSM feeds and clothes thousands of people, going through 5,600 beef sandwiches, 80 gallons of tea and 26 gallons of milk a day.

1930s

From the Depression
There is a constant drain on our resources as they come from morning until night with their heartaches and troubles. Some hungry, one wants a meal, another poor soul comes with a racking cough…or perhaps a mother comes in with her little one for food and clothing. One way or another, we try to meet all the demands thus put upon us.

1950s

From the Post-War Era
Not in 20 years has the Mission had such a steady stream of men, women and children coming daily for help. The Mission increasingly feels the need for more and better facilities.

1961

An office building on Victoria Street, right behind the Mission, is purchased to serve as the first Youth Centre, linked to the main building by a tunnel. It remains in use until 1966, when it is expropriated by Ryerson Polytechnic Institute (now Ryerson University).

1962

Yonge Street Mission Youth Centre opens.

1966

YSM Youth Centre is expropriated by Ryerson Polytechnic Institute. Land is purchased at Gerrard and Berkeley Streets for the site of the new Youth Centre.

1968

Christian Youth Centre opens at Parliament and Berkeley Streets.

1970

With the direction of an architectural firm, 381 Yonge Street undergoes extensive renovations. A coffee house is opened to attract the increasing numbers of young people visiting the Mission.

1970s

With the increasing numbers of welfare recipients, the Mission finds itself clothing, feeding and counselling hundreds of people every year. Men and women, young people and children whose lives are in need are still the main groups which comprise the Mission’s ministry.

1979

381 Yonge Street is renamed Evergreen.

1985

Evergreen begins to focus on the needs of street-involved youth. Programs are tailored to this group of young people.

1988

Hallelujah’s Muffin & Coffee Emporium opens, providing employment and job skills training for street-involved youth.

1989

Renovated drop-in, nonprofit cafeteria is reopened in Evergreen’s basement. Rick Tobias is appointed Executive Director.

1990

YSM begins its housing ministry, in cooperation with the City of Toronto’s Singles Housing Opportunities Program (SHOP). Two homes are opened, each accommodating five adults.

1991

Official opening of Genesis Place, a 26-unit, non-profit supportive housing facility located adjacent to the Community Centre on Gerrard Street East.

1992

Counselling branch opens in the Christian Community Centre.

1994

Official opening of Health Centre at Evergreen, offering medical care and referrals, dental care, eye examinations and glasses, health education and promotion and chiropractic services for street-involved youth. All services are free and confidential.

Evergreen’s programs and services are designed to restore health, hope and wholeness to a population of young people which have been broken by severe loss. Many of the youth that we come into contact with have experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse at home. Daily life for street-involved youth is a desperate struggle that hardens and eventually destroys them. Petty crime, begging and prostitution are their survival tools, and the use of drugs and alcohol helps deaden the agony of fear and rejection.

1996

February
Dedication of the newly renovated Evergreen. Transformations have created space for a new Drop-In, an art program, expanded health care facilities and a classroom for employment skills development.

October
Yonge Street Mission celebrates its 100th anniversary helping the poor in downtown Toronto.

1998

Evergreen Employment Resource Centre opens, providing job search, peer mentoring, employment readiness and life skills workshops, along with access to computers, Internet, phones, fax and photocopier.

1999

Official opening of the 310 Centre that houses the Double Take thrift store and the TD Securities Computer Literacy Centre.

2003

Partnering with YSM, the Royal Bank opens a Cash & Save branch in the 310 Centre.

2004

May
Official re-opening of the renovated and expanded Christian Community Centre.

September
Festivities held to celebrate 100 years of service at 381 Yonge Street.