Lee

All Saints’ doors are always open for us, whether you are hungry, angry or sad. Staff are always on heels and ready to help in whatever way necessary. I believe that All Saints’ runs off mutual respect for participants to participants and staff to participants especially given the fact that we are in a church. Staff […]

Lucy

When Lucy walked into the Friday Women’s Drop-In for the first time, I was struck by her very cool, high-heeled shoes. The Friday Women’s Drop-In at All Saints’ serves female sex workers and drug addicts and now, increasingly, a number of transgender women who live and work in the area. As we sat down to […]

Pete

He was coming to All Saints’ a few years ago to get a cup of coffee for a quarter when he was between jobs and had little money to spend.  Now he has a retirement income and lives elsewhere but he still comes back to All Saints’ to mop the floors when the drop-in closes.  […]

The Garden

In the spring of 2015, some members of All Saints’ Sunday congregation created a vegetable garden in the church parking lot. Nestled in a sunny south-facing spot, and sheltered on each side by the buttresses of the church, the vegetable garden at All Saints has flourished, providing healthy salads for the Drop-In and place for […]

Eleanor

…a regular at the Thursday Women’s Drop-In I’ve lived in this community for over 45 years and I see a lot of people who struggle with mental illness. I worked at 416 (416 Community Support for Women) for years. The girls on the streets call me ‘Mom.’ My own daughter is on the street…she’s quite […]

Janet

It was the luckiest day of my life when I moved into All Saints’. Nobody is as lucky as I am because I am safe, secure, and loved. I used to have a $400 a day crack habit that I supported by doing sex work. I had been living on the streets and hadn’t seen […]

Brian

I realized after moving away that I had a spring in my step. Shantal asked me what was going on and I told her I finally moved and she said that explains the walk. “So it wasn’t just me who noticed,” I said to her and I smiled. When packing I started to come across […]

Jeremy

“My life before All Saints was completely unorganized. I moved from Montreal and everything fell apart when I got here. I lost my job and my apartment fell through. Needless to say,  my life turned upside down. I turned to All Saints and was welcomed with the largest smile, nourishing food and great moral support. […]

First visitor to All Saints Church Community Centre

…then the Open Door Centre in 1972 The doors of the church burst open, and a woman staggered in wearing a housecoat, with her face dripping blood, her feet pain. She was actually suffering from terminal cancer and in much pain following an operation. [The staff] were able to find her a coat, and another […]