A new network of advocates focused on people who are homeless in Toronto has come together to create the Shelter and Housing Justice Network (SHJN). Two RNAO members sit on the group’s steering committee: street nurses Cathy Crowe and Roxie Danielson. As a front-line RN at Toronto’s Inner City Family Health Team, Danielson does outreach work with people who do not have a place to live and says she has clients who prefer to live outside because of the shortcomings of the current shelter and respite system. While she is glad the system is there, she admits it could be a lot better. SHJN is using a two-prong approach to combat the shelter and housing crisis. Its first objective is to expand the shelter system, which needs 2,000 additional shelter beds. Another goal is to provide more affordable, supportive housing. “On one hand, it’s really positive that the shelters and respite (centres) are there, because they get people off the streets and connected to resources,” Danielson says. The downfall, she suggests, is overcrowding and insufficient staffing.