Toronto organization celebrates one year of helping asylum seekers, despite challenges

My Brother’s Keeper, a Parkdale community organization, is celebrating its first anniversary of helping asylum seekers in Toronto on Sunday. While some beneficiaries say the organization has allowed them to survive, others say more needs to be done to meet growing needs.

This is what the founders of the organization and asylum seekers explained during a community barbecue organized Sunday afternoon in the neighborhood of Parkdalein Toronto.

This organization firstly helped me integrate. They told me we were not visitors here, but family testifies for her part Minouche Lonkuta, a beneficiary of the services of My Brother’s Keeper.

The organization was founded in June 2023 by True Daley and Adi Yemane, two residents of Parkdalein response to the crisis of asylum seekers sleeping rough outside the street shelter To fart in downtown Toronto.

Essential support for many

My Brother’s Keeper provides prepared meals and information sessions to help asylum seekers find housing and employment in the city. The organization was able to help hundreds of people thanks to donations from neighborhood churches and community centers.

It’s an incredible experience. Some people ended up finding work in the social field because of their previous experience. They now come here to help other asylum seekers with the information they need explains Adi Yemane, co-founder of the organization.

However, despite these efforts, demand continues to exceed supply. According to a recent report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, welcoming an asylum seeker would cost an average of $16,500 over three years in Canada.

A cry for help

Faced with the constant increase in the number of asylum seekers in need, the founders of My Brother’s Keeper are now seeking additional funding from different levels of government.

It hurt to see asylum seekers on the street and as I too had been an asylum seeker for a long time, it made me want to do something entrusts Jimmy Sota, a volunteer with the organization.

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Persistent challenges

The City of Toronto continues to face significant challenges in housing asylum seekers. Last October, nearly 300 people couldn’t find a bed each night in the city’s shelter system.

Our services are not up to par at the moment then said Lindsay Broadheadresponsible for communications for the municipality. What we are trying to accomplish is to maximize what we can do and seek support from our government partners at other levels.

With information from Sarah Tomlinson