The Salvation Army Gateway is a 108-bed shelter in Toronto for men who find themselves homeless. Our shelter is called the Gateway because it is a place where when people walk through these doors, other doors open to them. Homelessness is often the result of people running into barriers and roadblocks and it is the vision of the Gateway to help remove those barriers or at least assist those friends on the street to overcome them.

One of the things learned in the 7 year history of this facility is that many of the men who stay here have been declared unemployable by our culture. The average age of residents is 40 and these men simply cannot find meaningful work for meaningful pay. As a result, the thought process began about how to overcome this barrier.

There are five Salvation Army shelters in Toronto with a total of 615 beds. It costs these shelters $325,000 year just to clean the sheets, towels and pillow cases for these beds. So we began to wonder about the possibility of doing our own linens and in doing so, we could hire men and women who live in our shelters and walk alongside them in hopes of helping them regain their confidence and become ‘marketable’ again.

The next steps were the development of a business plan, fundraising in the amount $250,000 for capital start-up, and the renovation of a 2000 square foot space into an industrial laundry facility. We will hire 4 shelter residents for six month periods, pay them, train them in the linen industry, and conduct life skills and financial management training sessions with them along the way. We have also forged a relationship with a local linen company who has promised to hire all of our program graduates. We want to be able to journey alongside our people and give them hope as they walk towards a healthier, more fulfilling life.

Jesus came to ‘proclaim the good news to the poor’. The good news to those who have been declared unemployable is a job. We are thrilled to be bringing the good news to our people and we believe God is in this from top to bottom.

Dion Oxford | Director | Salvation Army Gateway