Looking for a way to help youth navigating the impact of poverty alone, Melanie became a mentor through YSM. You can, too.
How does Housing at YSM support our community?
Learn more through a Q&A with Yonge Street Mission’s Manager of Housing Services Kristin Booy.
“Be a Tonya for someone”
Tonya’s decision to share her computer skills was a life-changing one for Robert. And anyone can decide to “be a Tonya” for someone else.
A community in action: #HackPoverty
In #HackPoverty working groups, leaders from many backgrounds, including the lived experience of poverty, come together to seek solutions to pressing issues.
Lia’s story
As she experienced homelessness and isolation, Lia found a new beginning and a new sense of belonging through Yonge Street Mission.
Evan’s story
After becoming homeless at 19, Evan found a caring community at Yonge Street Mission.
Backpack Day at YSM
Thanks to donations from local churches and businesses, Yonge Street Mission gave away more than 600 new backpacks filled with school supplies last week.
How YSM disrupts the cycle of poverty: Steve’s story
As a single father and the owner of a struggling business, Steve* had become lost in a maze of debt and overdue taxes. Alone and overwhelmed Steve’s situation became even more overwhelming as he tried to navigate his financial challenges in the midst of ongoing personal difficulties – social anxiety, […]
WWE names YSM a Community Champion
While World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was in Toronto for their July 2024 Money in the Bank event, they named YSM as one of their three Toronto Community Champions.
Easter joy at YSM
Over the holiday weekend, we hosted a delicious hot meal for 200 community members to enjoy.
#HackPoverty celebration
Leaders from key sectors across Toronto are coming together with lived experience leaders to identify areas for actionable change to break cycles of poverty.
Trauma-informed art therapy group heals through connection
YSM’s free, accessible art therapy group can safely explore their feelings while also experiencing connection, compassion, acceptance, and belonging.
Our new Evergreen Health Centre has opened!
Housed in YSM’s Evergreen Centre on Spadina Avenue, YSM’s new Richard and Lorelei Jenkins & Family Health and Dental Centre increased the size of our health centre, which provides physicals, eye exams, chiropractic care, dental surgery, physiotherapy, and more.
Cornerstone students enter the YSM Fish Tank
What gets kids thinking as entrepreneurs and diving enthusiastically into learning about money management? A challenge, in January, to compete in YSM’s first-ever Fish Tank, a business case competition. Over three days, sixty students between the ages of 8 and 13 participated in Junior Achievement’s “More than Money” program led […]
YSM’s Computer Literacy Centre: A life-giving place
Yathu’s story Eighteen years ago, when Yathu was in seventh grade, his mom told him she’d signed him up for a computer club at YSM twice a week after school. Yathu’s parents had come to Canada as part of a wave of immigrants fleeing civil war in Sri Lanka in […]
Strengthening Family Bonds
Since January, YSM’s Cornerstone Family Services has been piloting an innovative program with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CAST) to provide an onsite reunion space where our staff supervises visits between Children’s Aid Society involved children and their parents. This new program is part of YSM’s Cornerstone Partnership, a […]
The Power of Philanthropy
Partnerships play a vital role in Yonge Street Mission’s ability to serve the community. One of our trusted collaborations, which dates back to 2019, is with electric power company Kinectrics. It started when our President & CEO Angie Peters was invited by Kinectrics’ CEO David Harris to speak about YSM’s […]
Meet Renaldo Wall, Director of Street-Involved Services
Back in the summer of 2022, Renaldo had been feeling it was time for a career change. He had been praying that he’d be delivered to such a change when a friend sent him a YSM job posting seeking a Director of Street-Involved Services. The role required an established leader […]
Jan Rothenburger: The People’s Pastor
In 1991, after recently coming to faith, Jan Rothenburger found herself at a unique church service at YSM’s Evergreen Centre. The church served as a safe space for community members to call ‘home’, especially those not comfortable in other faith communities. Jan attended Evergreen’s services weekly while connecting with street-involved […]
Community Member Aisha Meets Her Care Manager
YSM care managers are vital in establishing a connection with our community members and in creating the trust required to support them on their unique journey towards stability. A care manager at YSM’s Evergreen Centre for Street-Involved Youth recently shared her experience with a young community member named Aisha*: “I […]
Meet our Community Member Trevor
For many years *Trevor led a fairly modest life. He had an evolving career in film and television, a close-knit group of friends, and enjoyed several hobbies including building and painting military models. When the pandemic arrived and prevented him from working and socializing with friends, Trevor’s mental health began […]
Hack Poverty: A Plan to End Chronic Poverty in Toronto
Yonge Street Mission is dedicated to its mission of ending chronic poverty in Toronto in one generation. This ambitious goal will only be achieved through the collective partnership with and support of many in our community, including donors, funders, volunteers, community and government agencies and elected officials. To further actualize […]
A Belief in Legacy Giving
At YSM we remain focused on serving the Toronto community while also working to secure and advance our programs and their impact for the decades ahead. As such, we’re working to keep strengthening both our present and future financial footings. Legacy gifts – especially bequests made in the Wills of […]
Computer Literacy Centre Celebrates Graduating Class of 2022
The spring and summer season tend to bring many moments of celebrations and fun to YSM! This year is no different as our Computer Literacy Centre celebrated 58 graduating students, ranging in age from kindergarten to grade 11. Their special celebration was held in our YSM Davis Centre gymnasium, where […]
Working Together for Stability & Security
Early this year, Rebecca* started her new job as a security guard at Paragon Security and since then has noticed her mood improving, “How I feel about myself is just more regulated. It feels less stressful now because I have a job that I don’t have to worry about changing […]
Mentoring: Being a Catalyst for Change
“Two years ago, one of our YSM community members was facing a lot of struggles, especially related to employment,” shared Gerald, YSM’s Volunteer Coordinator and our mentorship program lead. “They were moving from one minimum wage job to another, and were about to be evicted from their home.” “During that […]
Happy National Volunteer Week!
April 24th – 30th 2022 is National Volunteer Week! Volunteers are such an integral part of YSM’s community – the impact of their commitment and contributions can be seen and felt across the organization. During our last fiscal year, 929 volunteers provided over 32,000 hours of their time to YSM! […]
A Place to Call One’s Own
Stable housing is a foundational aspect in one’s journey out of poverty. A home provides not only refuge and shelter, but also a space for healing and empowerment – a place to call one’s own. Huda* first connected with YSM determined to find a secure sanctuary for herself and her […]
Advocating for Second Chances
Emily O’Brien’s name is well-recognized around YSM, both for her passionate support of YSM’s Helping Offenders on Probation (H.O.P.E) Program and for her delicious popcorn. Emily is the founder of Comeback Snacks, a popcorn company on a mission to make a difference for people with criminal backgrounds who are trying […]
Christmas at YSM
Joy & Hope Shared Through YSM’s Christmas Toy Market At YSM, our annual Christmas Toy Market always marks a special time of the year. In December 2021, as lockdown restrictions lifted, we were both excited and thankful to invite families back into our Toy Market space to enjoy the familiar […]
What does it mean to journey with community members?
At YSM, the concept of goal setting is an integral part of how we journey with community members on their path towards stability. In some form, all of us have goals we aspire to fulfill. Some of them we consider small, like finishing a book or eating healthier. Whereas some […]
A Real Life Santa Claus: Supplying gifts of food across the community
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. […]
Commemorating 125 years of service, community and collaboration
2021 marks YSM’s 125th anniversary of serving in our city. To commemorate this special and memorable occasion, we used wood salvaged from the beams of YSM’s former site on Yonge Street to make a one of a kind time capsule to represent our work for future staff, volunteers, Board members […]
What does Philanthropy mean to you?
At YSM, we use the word philanthropy a lot. It’s a fundamental component of our mission to end chronic poverty, a way for an individual, or even very many people, to participate in our vision. But if I were to ask you are you a philanthropist? I wonder what your response […]
GIVE 6IX: Overcoming Barriers to Housing
Written by Angie Peters, President & CEO of YSM Imagine not having a safe place to rest your head or to call home. Without a stable home, how would you even think about getting to work in the morning or focusing on your schoolwork in order to further your education […]
Highlighting YSM’s real-life heroes – our Health Centre volunteers!
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 […]
GIVE 6IX: Finding Your Voice
“Was it even real? I talked to Ben Mulroney!” exclaimed Lilli, a YSM participant and one of six youth who had the opportunity to meet with and learn from Canadian broadcaster and celebrity Ben Mulroney. Lilli discovered YSM while living in a shelter. Initially, she came for the food and […]
Managing YSM’s Health Centre Expansion
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 […]
Our Growing GIVE 6IX movement
Pictured above: Connecting the Dots Foundation, Nigeria, participating in GIVE 6IX GIVE 6IX is a city-wide, “do-what-you-can, wherever-you-are”, invitation for everyone to do 6 of anything to help neighbours experiencing poverty. Here is just a sampling of the amazing actions we’ve been witnessing after launching our GIVE 6IX movement to […]
GIVE 6IX: Overcoming Barriers to Employment
Written by Angie Peters, President & CEO of YSM How many people pop to mind when you think of who helped you become who you are? For me the big ones are my mom, piano teacher, Girl Guide leader, many of my teachers, my spiritual director, mentors in business and […]