Eva’s Place Helps Toronto Youth Find Their Way Home

Funding provided through Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy.

In North York, Ontario, there is a place where young people are met without judgment. Every day, Eva’s Place welcomes youth aged 16 to 24 who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. They arrive carrying stories of survival and strength. At Eva’s Place, they find a warm meal, a bed to rest, and someone who sees them for more than their circumstances.

Helping youth move forward with care and purpose

Eva’s Place is one of four sites operated by Eva’s Initiatives for Homeless Youth. Together, these spaces offer crucial supports to over 200 youth across Toronto. At Eva’s Place, 40 youth at a time receive direct access to shelter, food, mental health services, and life skills programming. This model gives youth the tools they need to stabilize, reflect, and take steps toward independent living.

With support from the federal government, organizations like Eva’s can continue doing what they do best: meeting young people with compassion, practical help, and services tailored to their lives.

Programs designed for real lives and real challenges

Every youth who comes through Eva’s Place brings a different story. Some have aged out of child protection services. Others are navigating life in a new country as immigrants or refugees. Many identify as 2SLGBTQI+ or as Black and racialized youth who have faced lifelong systemic barriers. The YOUth Belong program was created with these realities in mind, providing case management that is mobile and flexible. This means staff can connect with youth in the places that feel most comfortable to them, whether that’s at the shelter, in the community, or in their own homes. Each youth receives personalized planning that helps them build stability at their own pace.

Staff at Eva’s approach this work through a Housing First for Youth framework. Their care is grounded in trauma-informed, harm reduction, and anti-oppressive practices, which means they take time to understand each youth’s experiences, avoid judgment, and prioritize safety, choice, and trust. This can include offering support without requiring sobriety, using language that respects a youth’s identity, or helping someone navigate services at their own pace. Every interaction is guided by compassion, helping youth feel seen, respected, and safe enough to begin imagining a future they can step into with confidence.

Walking alongside youth every step of the way

Support at Eva’s does not end when a youth leaves the shelter. Follow-up workers remain a steady presence, offering mobile, after-hours care and real-time help with the challenges that arise. Whether it’s navigating a housing search, resolving issues with landlords, or handling a crisis, staff are there with practical support and a steady presence.

They also support youth with tenancy planning, eviction prevention, access to education and employment, and navigation through mental health and addiction services. These relationships provide consistency in uncertain times and help youth stay housed while continuing to grow. Even after they move on, youth know someone is walking beside them.

Every night, Eva’s Place offers a pause from chaos. Every morning, it opens the door to a new beginning. With federal support through Reaching Home, Eva’s continues to provide young people with safety, structure, and the chance to build a life rooted in self-worth and possibility.

Quick facts:

• Eva’s operates four unique sites, each tailored to different needs, from emergency shelters to transitional housing and harm reduction programs.
• Eva’s current strategic plan places Black youth at the centre of its work, building on a strong foundation of culturally responsive, anti-oppressive programming.
• Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy is a community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness nationwide. The program is investing $5 billion over nine years, through to 2027-28, to support the most vulnerable Canadians in accessing and maintaining safe, stable, and affordable housing and to reduce chronic homelessness in Canada.

For more information, visit:

• Home - Eva's Initiatives for Homeless Youth
• Reaching Home Funding Streams
• Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy