Homelessness charity hoaxes affluent Toronto neighbourhood

Raising the Roof published complaints over a homeless shelter they were only pretending to build

A homelessness charity has published complaints they received over a shelter they pretended to build in an affluent Toronto neighbourhood.

Raising the Roof, an organisation that fights to end homelessness in Canada, set up a fake construction site in the Leaside area of Toronto.

Residents of the predominantly upper-middle-class neighbourhood were given a number to call to comment on the project, which the charity recorded for use in their video.

One resident left a message saying "Hi, I see that you're putting up a shelter in my neighbourhood; I'm quite distressed about this."

Come on, you know that these are all drug addicts and drunks

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Another told the answering machine that the project was "an awful idea."

The final message played is left by a resident concerned over the behaviour of homeless people, saying "Come on, you know that these are all drug addicts and drunks; you ruining a perfectly good neighbourhood is absurd."

(Youtube)

Just a day after signs appeared announcing the shelter, the charity replaced them with another that read:

"You told us you don't want a shelter here. Neither do we.

"Support us in creating long-term solutions. Let's end homelessness."

Accompanying the video, a statement from the charity said: "To reach our goal of ending homelessness we need everyone’s help to change government policy and the way the issue is addressed."

The messages were re-recorded and edited to protect people's privacy.