IT WAS A Wednesday afternoon and Gordon Robertson was helping run the Drop Inn program at his church, as he did every Wednesday.
As the centre was closing, an older couple showed up looking for help. Gordon suspected they hadn’t eaten in days.
“They had absolutely nothing, and they wondered if they could just get a few groceries,” he says. It’s a familiar story, Gordon says, especially recently, as the economy has dampened.
The former North York General Hospital doctor and his wife, Evelyn, coordinated the drop-in centre for the hungry and the homeless with fellow churchgoer, Irene Carriere, more than a decade ago. They recognized a need in the area and established the program through Newtonbrook United Church’s outreach branch, in partnership with the Taiwanese United Church.
“People were coming to the door of the church asking for food and asking for help,” says Evelyn.
The long-time area residents had spent a number of years volunteering for Out of the Cold, so they had a sense of how to go about setting up this assistance, Evelyn explains.
Even though the Drop Inn opened the same day former mayor Mel Lastman called in the troops to dig Toronto out from a massive snowfall, six people made it in.The program now brings in about 100 people a week, says Gordon, with a notable increase over the past year.
“They’re really a forgotten group in our society and they need help,” he says.
Gordon indicates that many of their guests have a serious mental health issue or are battling substance abuse.A smaller number of people have simply lost their job. Not all the people who attend the drop-in are homeless, but all require assistance.
Evelyn says she feels nobody should have to go hungry or face those circumstances alone.
“It’s really important that we do something to help alleviate that and give people the opportunity to get support,” she says.
The Drop Inn centre is held in the Newtonbrook United Church’s auditorium every Wednesday, all year round. Opening at 8 a.m., the program includes a buffet breakfast and a noon hour lunch, served up by the volunteers.
The program receives funding through donations from church members and the general public.
Rev. Allan Baker says that Gordon and Evelyn’s stewardship of the Drop Inn has been tremendously important to the program’s success.
“They are the saints,” he says. The Robertsons are incredibly humble about their contributions though. Gordon remarks that all they do is coordinate the program, along with Carriere.
Evelyn adds that it would be impossible to run the drop-in centre without the tireless efforts of its many volunteers. Through word of mouth, she says, the kind of assistance they’ve been able to provide has expanded considerably.
In the last year, two doctors and a psychiatrist from North York General Hospital have come on board, providing much needed medical and psychiatric care.
Dr. Antoinette Wertman is a family physician who lends her time and services to the drop-in program. Simply put, Wertman says,“It’s like a community centre.”
In many ways, the drop-in is more than a place to get a meal. Not only can visitors shower and pick up clothes, they can relax and have a cup of coffee. Another of the program’s partners, Toronto North Support Services, sends outreach workers who are available to go over how to access disability, pensions and welfare with guests.
There’s even a fellow who helps people who have lost their identification or had it stolen, Gordon says, as a social insurance number is needed to get a job.
Evelyn recalls the day a man who had been sleeping in a tent was able to come in and tell them that he would no longer be stopping by — he had found a job.
“We realized it’s only a drop in the bucket,”says Gordon. But their goal is to help however they can.
“When you go home, you might be tired and exhausted, but you do feel a lot better by then,” says Evelyn. “The words we hear most frequently are ‘Thank you.’
