Results for: evergreen

Retired for over two decades, YSM volunteer Gus goes above and beyond to source and share donated food with YSM, for staff to make into nourishing meals for community members. Growing up, Gus was always providing food to his neighbours as his family had a grocery store on Centre Island. […]

As you may have heard, our Evergreen Health Centre serving street-involved youth is expanding! If you aren’t yet familiar, YSM’s Evergreen Centre is a safe space for unstably housed and street-involved youth between the ages of 16 and 24. Each year, Evergreen opens its doors to thousands of youth who […]

In 2018 YSM opened Phase 1 of our purpose-built Evergreen Centre for street-involved youth on Spadina Avenue. Now, in 2021, we’re excited to get started on Phase 2 and complete our Evergreen Health Centre expansion. The completed space will dramatically increase our range of services, reduce wait times and extend […]

“The stability I have now – it all goes back to the first step I took with YSM.” Emad came to Canada for a new life. When he arrived he relied on his personal experiences and goals to create a great future for himself, but had very few material possessions […]

Written by Angie Peters, President & CEO of YSM It’s no secret women disproportionately experience poverty in Toronto. Single parents, the majority of whom are women, and racialized females represent the highest percentage of our city’s residents who are living in poverty today. Why is that? One key reason is […]

Marie* loves her child and wants to give them the best possible life. This desire fills her with purpose and hope as she works to meet the needs of her small family and navigate the daily challenges she faces. Marie arrived in Canada alone at the young age of 17 […]

“I was sitting in a field in India,” said Eric, remembering the moment when Brother Christas reminded him to spend the same amount of effort helping his neighbours in Toronto as he’d already done in leprosy centres abroad. “I helped establish two missions, in Haiti and India, and they reminded […]

Daniel’s* perseverance and talent have seen him through a lot in his life. And it’s those gifts which have carried him through the past year, in helping him get back on his feet and create a plan to reach his goals. Due to COVID, Daniel was jobless, food insecure and […]

At YSM, we’ve seen how personal connections are a vital factor in building the ability of our community members to set goals, take steps towards them and, ultimately, create better futures. Through mentorship, participants find opportunities to build healthy relationships, discover their own strengths and envision new possibilities for themselves […]

Donna Alexander works as a social worker at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and specializes in addiction and mental health, primarily working with Black families and youth through the Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth. In 2007, encouraged by one of YSM’s volunteers, Donna […]

For many of us, Christmas 2020 was like nothing we’ve experienced. However, for many in our community, the feeling of isolation during holidays is not new. Compounded with the financial impacts of the pandemic, we knew this Christmas would be extra challenging for many neighbours. With your generous support, however, […]

Evergreen Centre had just opened its doors for another day of providing essential supports and services to street-involved youth, when an unexpected visitor arrived. A large man, clearly agitated, began aggressively banging on the doors of the centre demanding food. Although he was older than youth served at Evergreen, YSM […]

Sharon first interacted with YSM through fabric shopping at our Double Take thrift store while teaching teen girls in Regent Park sewing and how to create up-cycled crafts. Frequent return trips connected her with Kathy, Double Take’s then Manager, who commissioned Sharon to create a wall hanging for the store. […]

In 1983 Rick was living in his beloved Atlantic Canada, with no intention of leaving. Yet, because of YSM’s persistent leadership, Rick agreed to move to Toronto and join the team as Director of the Evergreen Centre. Just two years later, Rick began to re-focus Evergreen to address the needs […]

“The HOPE program is going to help me have a foundation. I want to do better for my mom, but I also want to do better for me,” said Kevin, one of eight recent graduates of YSM’s HOPE (Helping Offenders on Probation Excel) program. “Everyone can say they love themselves, […]

“At the beginning [of COVID] it was really about safety. Do the youth we support have food, shelter, a home . . . are they safe?” says Nazreth, Counsellor / Registered Psychotherapist at YSM Evergreen Centre for Street Youth. Knowing the need for counselling was especially vital during this time, […]

When, in the fall of 2019, Dwight returned to work at YSM Evergreen Centre, there was a new vision to reach out to youth and individuals living under the Gardiner Expressway. “There are 50 – 70 people living in those areas [under the bridge and along the Lakeshore], I have […]