Unhoused women in Palmerston-Little Italy gain employment skills through arts

A group in Palmerston-Little Italy is helping unhoused women and gender-diverse people find a creative outlet while also making a buck out of their creations.

Homelessness is currently on the rise in Toronto. The City’s 2024 Street Needs assessment found that there are over 15,400 unhoused individuals.

Ninety per cent of respondents said multiple supports, including affordable housing, higher social assistance rates and employment training, are needed to end the cycle.

Volletta Peters, who holds a doctorate in philosophy, is the executive director of Sistering, a multi-service agency for unhoused women and gender-diverse people. 

“When individuals become homeless, they lose their jobs. And so it’s a chicken or an egg situation. Many employers don’t want to employ individuals who are unhoused or homeless. Further to that, if an individual lacks a safe place to sleep, to get up in the morning, to take a shower, then accessing employment becomes more challenging,” said Peters.

“It is critical for individuals who experience homelessness to continue to have access to employment opportunities.”

So, Sistering launched Spun Studio, an innovative textile program that helps unhoused women and gender-diverse people earn additional income in a creative, collaborative and healing environment. Participants learn to sew, knit and crochet while also building self-esteem and community.

The finished artwork is then sold outside Sistering every Saturday.

Julie Dumaresq-Turgeon, a social enterprise associate at Spun Studio, said the social aspect of the studio is crucial as participants leave their trauma behind and build community.

“Sometimes you don’t think you’re going to be creative or feel that way the morning of, but once you come to the studio, it’s kind of magical because it’s contagious. You sit with people, you share a nice meal, you offer some material, and there you go; that’s where the beauty of it all happens, like at Spun Studio.”

A 2021 Pan-Canadian survey on women’s housing and homelessness found that one in four women experienced homelessness before the age of 16, followed by a cycle of precarious housing.

Additionally, over 75 per cent of women and gender-diverse people experiencing homelessness reported being survivors of trauma or abuse.

“I was hospitalized for a long time and the social workers in the hospital told me, ‘Well you can go to a shelter or you can go to a drop-in and if you go to Sistering, you have to sleep on the floor but they have wonderful staff’ and so I opted to go to Sistering,” shared Trishawna Lindo, a participant at Spun Studio since summer 2023.

“It was a life-changing experience for me, I was homeless for a year and a half and within that span of time, I grew a lot. Sue and Julie really helped me to gain housing, to find my own skill sets, [and] to work on growth.”

Spun Studio hopes to continue diversifying its art programming and is on the lookout to collaborate with other shelters and organizations across the city.