An Etobicoke charity group has been told they are trespassing while handing out food on Toronto Senior Housing Corporation (TSHC) property, but now some who rely on the service are speaking up about how important the group’s work is. 

With the help of around 25 volunteers, every Friday evening for the last 16 months, local non-profit Food for Now has been operating outside a senior’s building in the Lakeshore Village neighbourhood.  

They serve free food and offer essential items to the community. Many of whom live in the building and rely on mobility devices 

“I’m only on [Ontario Works], so there’s like $400 left after my rent is paid that I live on for the month, which is nothing,” said John Jeffreys, a Food for Now client, who said he probably wouldn’t be able to afford food on his own without the group. “I doubt it, because the food I get from them lasts me like 3 days, I don’t eat it all at one time.” 

Back in July 2025, the THSC issued a letter to Food for Now, instructing them to leave the covered front entrance area of the building, citing that they were impeding tenant access to the building and improper littering. 

So, with the permission of the two leased businesses on the property, the group relocated a few feet over. 

Then on Jan. 23, Food for Now was served with a notice to fully vacate the TSHC property or face trespassing charges and possible legal action.  

“Now we’re at a point where, ‘Ok sorry I should have asked before but now I’m asking,’ and here I have all the community behind and hopefully they can make sense of all this,” said Daniel Lauzon, the founder of Food for Now. 

Lauzon and crew have since moved operations to the sidewalk in front of the building and said he couldn’t imagine severing the lifeline his organization provides to this neighbourhood, serving anywhere between 60 to 120 people every week.  

In a change.org petition, he pleads with TSHC to allow them to operate one day per week for about two-and-a-half hours. 

“They know by the weekend they can count on food for now, they leave with pantry items, bread, and a couple meals. It’s not just one meal, whatever we have, we give.” 

In a statement to CityNews, TSHC said that they are actively in contact with Food for Now “to explore how to work together to keep the program operating in a mutually beneficial location.” 

A meeting is now scheduled for next week. 

“Worst case scenario we would do it on the sidewalk, and if it rains or snows, having the permission to go over there,” said Lauzon. 

Food for Now is powered by community donations. For more information, you can visit their website.