We, the undersigned, Toronto community members, wish to gain the interest of the Toronto Covenant House board of directors and chairperson to the following negative outcomes experienced by homeless pregnant women ages 16-24 years:
- Approximately 6900 youths stayed in Toronto shelters in 2002.
- Youth ages 16-24 years make up about 22% of the shelters occupants and 50% of these youth are young women. Approximately half of these women become pregnant.
- In 2001, there were only 43 supportive units dedicated for homelessteenage mothers compared to the 485 shelter beds available for street youth in Toronto.
- Most pregnant homeless women receive prenatal care, but a high proportion of them experience malnutrition. Other negative health consequences include miscarriages, tuberculosis, diabetes, Hepatitis C, AIDS, mental illness, and sometimes death.
- If shelter units are unavailable, homeless pregnant mothers would go to abandoned and unsafe houses and buildings putting them at greater risk for negative health outcomes.
- Underlying factors for homelessness and poverty among youth can be traced back to childhood history of physical and/or sexual abuse, intergenerational conflict, poverty, and limited access to the social determinants of health.
We, the undersigned, petition the Toronto Covenant House board of directors and chairperson to build on the "WE ARE HERE: Declaration of Young Parents", which was proposed to David Miller on March 29, 2007. We encourage the Toronto Covenant House to reserve emergency shelter beds for homeless young pregnant women with the objective of improving their quality of life and the healthy child development of their unborn children.
