For the thousands of homeless people living in Toronto, winter represents the most challenging and dangerous season. Heavy snowfall crushes the tents and cold rain seeps through them, damaging belongings and soaking the sleeping pillows.
When Khaleel Seivwright researched the city’s housing crisis last fall, he hoped his carpentry training could be of some help. Within a few weeks, their small wooden houses began to appear in the city’s parks.
But the story of a carpenter whose modest structures came to represent housing inequality in Canada’s largest city took a tragic turn this month, when a man was killed by a fire. Days later, Toronto announced that it would begin enforcing a court order preventing Seivwright from moving or maintaining his wooden shelters, which authorities described as a fire hazard.
The tragedy, and the city’s response, infuriated defense groups, who argue that the authorities are taking legal action against Seivwright, although they have failed to resolve the chronic problems of the public housing system.
“They are defaming someone who is literally doing the job they were unable to do,” said Lorraine Lam, a Toronto worker. “It is completely unfair.”
The homeless crisis in the city has worsened over the years, as the demand for affordable housing has far outstripped supply. More than 10,000 people live without access to housing – a number that was likely to increase during the coronavirus pandemic.
The city said there was a lot of space in shelters for the homeless, but community workers like Lam say these facilities are often overcrowded or considered unsafe. With the coronavirus pandemic adding another layer of risk, residents often make the difficult decision to sleep outdoors.
In late 2020, with winter approaching, Seivwright tried to help. He started building small portable structures, using donated supplies and funds. Each unit, which took eight hours to build, came equipped with fiberglass insulation, a fire alarm, carbon monoxide detector and locks and cost about C $ 1,000 (US $ 786) to produce.
As word of his project spread, the carpenter was quickly inundated with donations, raising more than C $ 200,000.
For those who use Seivwright shelters, they represent a warmer and safer option than facing the intense cold of winter.
“Compared to being on a park bench, tent or anywhere else outside, it basically saved my life,” said a small householder. “I think it is one of the best things that could happen for this city right now … Without it, people would be falling to the left, right and center.”
City officials saw small structures as a security risk. In November, authorities wrote a letter to Seivwright demanding that he “stop production, distribution, supply and installation” of the shelters, adding that he would be responsible for any removal costs.
An online petition received more than 80,000 signatures protesting the city’s response.
But on February 12, the city escalated, submitting an injunction request that would prevent Seivwright from making, repairing and relocating small wooden shelters on city-owned land, arguing that the shelters were not safe.
Days later, a fire killed a man inside a wooden structure. City officials, who have yet to disclose the cause of the fire or identify the victim, did not say whether the structure was made by Seivwright, but announced they would seek to enforce the injunction.
“These structures are not allowed and are not legal,” Brad Ross, a spokesman for the city of Toronto, told the Guardian. The city added overflow capacity when needed, he said, and took steps to ensure that shelters are safe during the pandemic. “The city’s position is that it is safer inside than outside.”
Seivwright begged the city to withdraw legal action against him, arguing that the funds used to pursue him could be better allocated.
“The city of Toronto is going through a housing crisis. This pandemic has made everything worse, ”he said in a video declaration on Monday – his first public statements since the city’s decision to apply the injunction. “Instead of working with me, the city sued to prevent me from building and relocating the tiny shelters. The problem is not the tiny shelters. The problem is that the most vulnerable people in Toronto are falling into the cracks. “
For housing advocates, Seivwright’s work speaks of a wider crisis across the city, in which residents who need long-term shelter cannot find housing. Last year, 74 shelter residents died, the worst year on record. Their average age was 50 years old.
“None of us are here celebrating that people are living in tiny wooden shelters. But these are literally the last resources for people, ”said Lam, adding that waiting times for subsidized housing can reach 12 years for a one-bedroom apartment. “People just want housing and are literally dying waiting for it.”