Toronto shelters to host Super Bowl celebrations

By Faiza Amin

It’s one of the biggest nights in sports that attracts hundreds of millions of viewers around the world each year, and in celebration of Super Bowl 52, two shelters in the city are hosting their own celebrations specifically for their clients.

Both The Good Shepherd Ministries and Covenant House are hosting a pizza party for men and youth in celebration of the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots.

“It gives them a chance to take part in the Super Bowl celebrations, just like everybody else,” said Brother Tom Liss, Director of the Good Shepherd. “They have their favourite team and they also enjoy the halftime show.”

Brother Liss tells CityNews they’re expecting nearly 100 men to take part in this traditional celebration, all of them clients of the shelter.

It’s been an unprecedented winter for the City of Toronto, that’s already been faced with several city-issued extreme cold weather alerts. The most recent alert was issued on Thursday, and continues to stay in effect as of Sunday.

The cold winter has raised concern over the city’s homeless population, with many saying there’s a crisis on hand.

That criticism saw advocates asking the city and the federal government to open the Moss Park Armoury, the feds eventually agreed to offer it up as a temporary shelter.

At the end of January the Armoury doors closed for good, following the opening of the shelter at 354 George Street, a long term winter respite center that will continue to operate until April 15th. The city says as of Sunday morning, the shelter, which has a capacity of 100, was being used by 68 people.

A city of Toronto spokesperson says there was likely a 95 per cent occupancy rate last night at the emergency shelters. There are also eight winter respite services, that together have a capacity of 660.

 

The city is also offering warming center services at Metro Hall up until noon on the day the weather alert is terminated. As of 4 a.m. Sunday morning, 19 people were using the Hall.

It should also be noted that Regent Park Community Center is no longer offering this service. A full list of all the shelter drop-ins and programs can be found on the city’s website.

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