Founded in 1992, Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto (Sanctuary) is a Christian organization that works with poor and homeless people to provide them with support in reintegrating with the community. Sanctuary believes that without belonging to a healthy community people receive little benefit from drug rehab, housing, or employment programs.

Every week, Sanctuary hosts a health clinic, art club, women’s group, worship service, two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and a community lunch & dinner. Staff are available to help people access welfare, housing, legal aid, counselling, and therapy or drug rehabilitation. The charity reports 300 people eat together weekly at the meals. The health clinic has 250 active patients, with 800 unique visits yearly.

Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto operates Switchback Cyclery, a retail and repair bike shop. The business hires people with limited education, work experience, or a criminal record who may have trouble finding a job in the traditional labour market. Employment provides people with a sense of purpose and belonging. Sanctuary gives employees training and support in finding sustainable housing, accessing healthcare, and maintaining a personal budget.

Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto is a Medium-sized charity with donations of $1.7m in F2019. Switchback Cyclery ran at a net loss of $333k in F2019. Administrative costs are 4% of revenues and the charity does not report any fundraising costs. For every dollar donated, 96 cents go to the cause. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Donors should be aware that extremely low overhead costs can be a risk to the charity's operational abilities.

Sanctuary has $1.0m in funding reserves which could cover program costs for roughly seven months. This indicates a need for funding.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Sanctuary Ministries Toronto for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 08, 2020 by Eric Jose.