Speaker 1  0:06  
Here at the Church of St. Stephen in the fields there's an encampment behind me this encampment has been here for about two years. The city says about eight people live here at the city also says they're moving in today. They're planning to ask residents to leave. They say they have shelter space for those individuals. But residents who live here tell me they don't want to go. They say there is no space within the shelter system also saying they don't feel safe there. The city is saying they're moving in because this isn't safe anymore. They say that there are issues when it comes to fires with 14 saying it's a risk to residents who live here also say a risk to residents who live in the neighborhood. I've talked to neighbors who tell me that they are concerned there are schools and daycares nearby, they'd like to see the area cleared city staff just arrived and they're starting to talk to residents have other options.

Speaker 2  0:48  
St. Stevens has been an unusual church for a long time. It has a history of social justice work of deep deep Neighborhood and Community Connections, of creating all sorts of initiatives and institutions that have become integral parts of the neighborhood and even of the wider city.

Speaker 3  1:12  
I had the pleasure of speaking with Reverend Maggie Helwig about the unique atmosphere she has created at her parish st Stephen of the fields

Speaker 2  1:19  
it was it was the church I want it to be at I had to work pretty hard to get there.

Speaker 3  1:29  
st Stephen of the fields has been allowing unhoused people to stay at the church since the early 70s When the Reverend at the time camera saw started handing out food to those in need. There

Speaker 2  1:40  
have been small numbers of people sleeping in the churchyard for decades. It's always been a safe space, on accessible space. And the church has always been okay with that. So, you know, long before I was there, there would be almost all the time one or two, three people sleeping in the yard. It started developing into a larger encampment in the spring of 2022.

Speaker 3  2:23  
Andrew, a volunteer at the church dedicates most of his time to serving the community and the encampment. 

Speaker 2  2:29  
yeah, I mean, it's not we we never put up a sign saying, you know encampment here. It just happened. And as long as I can remember you nearly 50 And I grew up in a neighborhood. So as long as I can remember people have camped there, often. But now, there's just a lot more desperation. There have been a few moments where it looked like the city was gonna come in. And if it they've tried a couple times and failed.

Speaker 4  3:05  
Everybody thought, well, this is it. This is the final, you know, eviction. I've been struggling with the city for so long. But now it's all being cleared out. And and that's not exactly what happened. And what happened was complicated and messy and partial and strange. Eventually, we hired a law firm, to try to get an injunction to prevent the clearing of the encampment. We were not granted that injunction. The day that the injunction failed in court, I got a call from someone at the city saying that the encampment would be cleared in under 48 hours from the time he was phoning me. And at the same time, city workers went to the encampment and delivered the same message to the residents. A number of people packed up and left being told Wednesday night that it was being cleared Friday, a number of them just packed up and went to other incumbents. So when the city came on Friday, there were fewer people there than there had been two days earlier, which is part of what they were counting on. Sure. So the city brought in heavy machinery after dark in a residential neighborhood it was quite dangerous. It was it was fully dark by the time they wheeled in the heavy machinery and scraped just scrape the earth clear on the south side. And so that happened and they put up an eight foot security fence bolted into the ground, very heavy duty fencing. And then the next day they came and broke gigantic concrete blocks inside the fence. Those concrete

Unknown Speaker  4:42  
boulders which I find just absolutely offensive.

Speaker 3  4:47  
While visiting the encampment, I saw the fence that was put up and how it's limited the space residents of the encampment have to create living quarters. The residents of the encampment that I met were just happy to have a place to lay their head but They also detailed that this is not a viable solution for the housing crisis. Becky, a young on House woman who spends her time at the encampment is especially passionate about fixing the housing crisis.

Speaker 5  5:12  
Well, you know, like, these are people like we've been on the streets for 20 fucking years, right? Yeah. That's fucking crazy. Toronto's housing situation, sheltered situations, is like not fucking okay. It's a human rights, like it's a basic human right? To be able to have fucking shelter over your head. So you don't freeze.

Speaker 3  5:38  
The encampment is still active now with fewer residents, but the city is still actively trying to get rid of the life they've created at St. Stephen's and the legacy of the church is generosity.

Speaker 4  5:49  
I don't want to see my church surrounded by an eight foot fence and cinder blocks completely forever. I think that would be horrible for the neighborhood horrible for the church. I have no idea what the city's intentions are. You know, I do what I can do and I control what I can play and I have no idea

Unknown Speaker  6:20  
for JRN Radio. I'm Meaghan Beavis.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai