The Meeting Place: Free laundry, showers, storage, internet, phone etc

The Meeting Place In Context

It doesn't show up in the calendar or the map because meals is what this place isn't for. In its palacial location on the west side of Bathurst just north of Queen, the Meeting Place is the perfect companion to places in the area like St. Felix, the Corner Drop-in, Scot Mission and Evangel Hall. And the Queen West Health Center is the other perfect compliment to the Meeting Place, on the west side of Bathurst just south of Queen.

Laundry Time: 11:30

Sorry, this time has changed, and the new timing is unknown.

They open the door at half past eleven in the morning, Monday to Friday, with the occasional poorly-announced exception. Guests are asked to put their names in the general sign-in sheet, and then they can sign up for laundry, showers, computers etc. The phones are on a wait-and-wonder basis.

Showers and Storage: now that's harm reduction!

The Meeting Place will actually store your valuables for free. Having somewhere to put a backpack is a big deal for homeless and precariously-housed people, so I really feel like someone deserves to be knighted for putting that in place. Same thing with the showers.

The Breakfast/shower/laundry strategy power combo moves

For extra hobo points, try this (you will need a bike):
11:00 Show up at St. Felix, grab breakfast. Sorry, this time has changed... they open at noon now.

11:25 Start waiting around the Meeting Place door.
11:35 Put your laundry in on 25 minute Quick Cycle.
11:40 Take a shower (or try to get to the second Scot Mission lunch before 11:45) and back before your wash ends. Extra points.
12:00 Put your laundry in the dryer and do some internetting.

It's tempting to work the corner drop-in lunch in there somewhere, it must definitely be possible to hit up all three places and get a really solid meal in.

The sketchiness factor

The meeting place is so, so sketchy. Guests have to overhear shouting matches, conversations about violence and criminality, and out-of-control people with each visit, but the staff is pretty amazing at keeping it just barely safe for everyone. The key is not to get into anyone else's business and not let people provoke you, because they will try to, every once in awhile. My recommendation? Take it easy on the coffee and don't count on getting there on time, having your place in line or masculinity/femininity respected, or getting what you want to eat. You want to be able to get away with this day after day for the rest of your life if necessary. So remember: don't set yourself up to have to avoid one of these places, because it could really cramp your style.

Ontario Works Shuffles Little Portugal Clients to Downtown Office

Ontario Works clients whose postal codes begin with M6J received a notice this month that, "in order to serve you better," their accounts would be moved to the downtown Metro Hall office, and that they would get further information in the mail.

As of yet, further notices have not been sent out, and there seem to be various versions of the story. The phone line for the 1900 Dundas West office still says that it serves M6J-ers, the notice at the entrance to the building says something about it being effective on the 20th or something like that, and workers say that the move is because the office took on clients from a postal code further out. They talk about how happy the people at the eastern border of the M6J postal code must be.

Just to illustrate how little this serves anybody better, here's a map of the two M6J areas, and the two offices (the new one is the one that's further away from most of the area):


View M6J area code in a larger map

If you eyeball it, it looks like only residents of 1/5th of the postal code are actually closer to the new location.

So why didn't they just shuffle those in the green area to the new office, instead of continuing to force them to trek west on Dundas, and let the people in Little Portugal stay in Little Portugal where they want to stay?

It's basically a big f-you to Little Portugal residents on OW. It'll be interesting to see the scads of irate Portuguese rubbing shoulders with some of the roughest OW clients in the city, at the most ghetto, difficult-to-find office in the GTA.

If you're going to have to go to this hellhole, here's how to get there: it's just to the left of the main entrance pictured below, off the north side of Wellington street, and it's on the south side of Metro Hall.


View Larger Map

Fortunately, there is a silver lining to all of this: the people at the downtown office have a bit of a better attitude. They don't speak Portuguese, though. And everybody's getting transferred to new workers. How are our Portuguese immigrants who are still learning basic, basic English, supposed to make the transition, when they're already in enough of a pickle, having come to Canada expecting everything to be coming up roses, and ending up on the dole because, oops, Canada's a pretty tough place to live, it turns out.

Another actual plus: The employment center in Metro Hall is much less ghetto than the one on Dundas West.

The problem is the commute. Ontario Works clients don't spend their transportation allowance, if they get it, on transportation, they spend it on bills, because the accommodations and basic needs allowance, added up, are what most people pay for rent - if they're lucky. So this means a lot of walking. A lot.

Maybe now's a good time to set up a much-needed Bikes for Bums project or something.

Internet Famous Homeless People

Going around some of these drop-in programs, I see people who could really do well in movies. And I wonder how many of the people around me are building something incredible on the internet... with social networking, blogging or whatever.

Check this link out: 6 Awesome Homeless People Saved by The Internet

No Scott Mission Lunches on Sunday!

Full apologies... the calendar has misleadingly said Scott Mission lunch every day of the week at 10:30 and 11:30, and it's actually every day except Sundays.

And they don't want you to go to both! Here's a recommendation: go to the 10:30 one and then bomb down to St. Felix on Augusta just north of Queen. Go through the projects south of the market. For bonus points, hit up St. Steven's at Augusta and College before Scott Mission. It's a triple-whammy that you'll need some real Tupperware to make full use of. If you tupperware the shit out of those three, you can chill for the rest of the day.

Again - sorry! This site is about accuracy and this is embarrassing.

Much Love,

The Overconnected Hungry