News

Back to School BBQ! 📚🎓✏️🚌📓📕📎🖌️ Every year, Christie provides refugee children living at Christie Refugee Welcome Centre with brand new backpacks and school supplies, ahead of the upcoming September back to school season. This year, we gave out 37 backpacks to children living at the Centre. We also gave out 54 backpacks to children who had recently moved out of the Centre (within the last year). Thank you to our generous donors, including @triconresidential.toliving and the Tendaji Charitable Foundation. . . . #backtoschool #backtoschool2024 #refugeesintoronto #refugeeshelter #refugeechildren #refugeefamiliestogether

On October 5, Christie will be walking and riding in the Ride for Refuge to support refugees in finding safety and a new start in Canada. You can lead a walking or biking team (link in bio - see Become a Team Captain) and join us! All funds raised go directly towards Christie Refugee Welcome Centre and the families we serve. . . . #supportrefugees #rideforrefuge

A picture does not always tell the whole story. While community events coloured these past few months, it’s also been an incredibly difficult summer for the families living at Christie (and other shelters across Toronto). A summer of waiting. Waiting to hear if and when a new housing benefit (that was suspended in April) will be announced that will afford residents the opportunity to move out of shelter and into the community. So far, no word. So families are waiting. Making difficult decisions. Do they stay living in shelter, hoping a housing benefit (or anything!) will be announced soon? Or do they try to move out and sustain a family/a home with the below poverty-rate social assistance funds afforded to them? Many are applying for survival jobs but here too the wait continues. Wait for a callback, wait for an interview. A few photos from this ongoing summer; Christie staff have been working hard to lighten the mental load that comes along with a life in suspension. Canada Day celebrations, community gardening programming, multicultural day tastings and our World Refugee Day event back in June. . . . #refugeestories #refugeeshelter #refugeehouse #housingisahumanright #housingintoronto #affordablehousing

Meet some of the amazing people who participated in last year’s Ride for Refuge to help Christie raise over $150,000! Together, we can make an even bigger impact this year. Join us and become a team captain today, link in bio. Questions? Ask us! #community #rideforrefuge #supportrefugees #rideforrefuge2024

Our Food Services team works hard to feed all 74 residents living at Christie with 3 healthy and delicious meals daily. Our amazing head chef even grows these delicious greens (pic 2) in our on-site community garden to use in meals. We are in need of healthy (pre-packaged, nut free) snacks for kids lunches, as the upcoming Back To School season approaches. Can you or a business you know help us out!? Send us an email at donations@christiestreetrc.com . . . #refugeeshelter #emergencyshelter #foodsecurityforall #backtoschool #refugeechildren

Ride for Refuge 2024 takes place October 5! Do you want to bike or walk with us on October 5 and help support the refugee families we work with!? Start a team, join a team - ask us how! . . . #rideforrefuge2024

Thank you to Tricon Residential for their work refreshing our exteriors - fresh paint on doors and parking lot lines! We are grateful. If you are a corporation and would like to support Christie in any way - big or small - get in touch with us! . . . #refugeeshelters #refugeefamilies #impactproject #corporatesustainability

Multicultural Day! 🇦🇫🇧🇧🇧🇼🇦🇷🇨🇦🇨🇱🇬🇭🇲🇱 Every year we host a Multicultural Day for the residents living at Christie, an opportunity for families to share their food, fashion, dance and more from back home. This year we had 10 countries represented - from Rwanda to Mexico to Nigeria and Colombia. Our Children’s Program also made a sweet effort to shop for cultural food from nearby Bloor Sreet to bring to the party (pic 2 - Korean, Vietnamese and South American offerings). A dance competition with Christie staff as judges also ensued! A big thank you to the families for sharing their small slice of home. . . . #refugeeswelcome #refugeesintoronto #canadianmulticulturalismday #multiculturalism

Summer camp continues! Last week, we made salads with the harvest of our very own on-site community garden. We also made our very own yummy lemonade using freshly picked mint and herbs. A salad making competition ensued. Honourable mentions to campers who won ‘most colorful salad’, ‘most salty salad’ and ‘salad that reminds you of home’. Kids came up with all the categories, taste-tasted each of their creations and voted for each other. Too special. . . . #refugeechildren #summercamp #refugeesintoronto #torontosummercamp #torontosummercampsforkids