Ways to help
How to help someone experiencing homelessness
To help someone experiencing homelessness, say hello and ask what would help, know who to call if they are in trouble outside, and give new, warm things or money to the agencies that work with people every day. In Toronto, 311 connects you to the City's street outreach team at any hour of the day or night1.
Four of the six things below cost nothing. We are Engage and Change, a Toronto charity that has packed winter survival kits for people sleeping outside since 19992.
Start here
Start with hello.
If you pass the same person every morning, say hello on the days you have nothing to give, too. When you do want to help, ask what would help before you buy anything, because someone who already has a sleeping bag might want dry socks or a coffee more. No thanks is a fine answer.
If you post about it, post what you did and leave the person out of the picture.
Who to call
Know who to call before you need to.
Save these in your phone tonight. They are Toronto numbers; the line under the card covers everywhere else.
- Someone sleeping outside who could use help: call 311 and ask for street outreach. The City's Streets to Homes workers are out 24 hours a day, all year, for people 16 and older who are sleeping outside, and in winter they can offer blankets and sleeping bags as well as a referral to a shelter1.
- Someone who wants a shelter bed: Central Intake, 416-338-4766 or 1-877-338-3398, 24 hours3. Call with them, or stay close while they call.
- A cold night: Warming Centres open when the forecast hits minus 5°C, and adults can walk in without calling first4.
- Someone who does not respond, or who you do not think will get through the night where they are: call 911.
Outside Toronto, call 2-1-1. It answers 24 hours a day in most of Canada5, and the person on the line can tell you who runs street outreach where you live.
Warming Centre addresses and every shelter number in one place
Giving something
If you are handing something over, keep it new and small.
In winter, dry socks come first, then a hat, gloves and a scarf. Whatever you give gets carried all day.
What people sleeping outside need in winter, item by item
Making care kits or blessing bags to hand out yourself? Our checklist
Want to give items to a shelter? What shelters ask for, and why to call first
Giving money
Give money, or raise it.
Our kits are how we turn a donation into something a person can carry. Each Project Winter Survival kit holds 30+ new items, including a sleeping bag and a backpack, and we buy them at wholesale, so a dollar buys more than it would at a drugstore2. $50 helps build one.
Agencies across the GTA ask us for up to 30,000 kits a year. One January pack day makes 3,5002.
You can also raise it. Start a fundraiser on CanadaHelps for a birthday, a jeans day at work or a class project, and share the link2. To give in someone's name, choose the tribute option on CanadaHelps when you donate. CanadaHelps issues your tax receipt automatically.
Giving time
Give your time close to home.
Shelters, drop-ins and meal programs near you may take volunteers, so call and ask what they need.
We cannot take individual volunteers. Our January pack is for company teams: a company donates to bring its team, and teams run from 3 people to 15 and up2. If your workplace might do it, send whoever runs your community or HR program the For Companies page.
Schools and faith groups can run a drive of new kit items and deliver it to us in bulk
The bigger picture
A kit gets someone through the night. Housing is a bigger job.
Toronto's last count, in October 2024, found an estimated 15,400 people experiencing homelessness, up from about 7,300 in 20216. A sleeping bag does not house anyone. If you want to push on housing, your city councillor and your MPP are the people to call.
Give toward a kit
Give $50 toward a winter kit.
Kits go to more than 200 front-line agencies across the GTA, including shelters and outreach programs, who hand them to people they already work with2. Nearly 95,000 have gone out since 1999. The next pack is January 16, 2027.
Run a company? Bring a team to the January pack.
More answers
Questions people ask
The short answers.
How can I help the homeless in my community?
What should I do if I see a homeless person outside in the cold?
Ask if they are OK and whether they want help. In Toronto, call 311 for street outreach at any hour1, or Central Intake at 416-338-4766 if they want a shelter bed3. If they do not respond, or you do not think they will get through the night, call 911.
Should I give money to a homeless person?
That is your call. If you are not comfortable handing over cash, ask whether you can buy them something instead, and let them choose what.
What can I give a homeless person?
Ask first. In winter, dry socks, a hat, gloves and a scarf are good places to start, and everything should be new and small enough to carry all day. Our winter needs page goes item by item.
Can I volunteer with Engage and Change?
The January pack is for company teams, and a company donates to bring its team, so individuals can't sign up for it. On your own, you can give toward a kit or start a fundraiser on CanadaHelps.
Can I donate in someone's name?
Yes. Give through CanadaHelps on our donate page and choose the tribute option to give in someone's name. The tax receipt is issued automatically.
Sources
- City of Toronto, Streets to Homes Street Outreach Support Program. Date modified July 4, 2026. toronto.ca Streets to Homes.
- Engage and Change. Project Winter Survival kit list and program figures, engageandchange.org (project-winter-survival, donate, get-involved, companies), as of October 2026; totals (nearly 95,000 kits since 1999, up to 30,000 agency requests a year) as confirmed by the board, October 11, 2026. Project Winter Survival.
- City of Toronto, Central Intake. toronto.ca Central Intake.
- City of Toronto, Warming Centres. toronto.ca Warming Centres.
- 211 Canada. 211.ca.
- City of Toronto, 2024 Street Needs Assessment. News release, July 7, 2025. toronto.ca 2024 Street Needs Assessment.
Numbers and sources checked October 11, 2026.