Street Health is a top-rated, 5-star charity with an above-average results reporting grade and Good demonstrated impact. The charity has reasonable overhead costs and is financially transparent. 

Founded in 1986, Street Health is a frontline service to help Toronto's homeless population. The charity states that roughly 100,000 people in Toronto are homeless or insecurely housed each night. Street Health runs five main programs: harm reduction, mental health, nursing, overdose prevention, and identification (ID) services. 

In F2023, Street Health spent 39% of total program spending on harm reduction for drug users. Through its programs, Street Health aims to reduce the negative consequences of drug use without necessarily reducing drug use itself. Services include outreach, safe drug kit distribution, drop-ins, Hepatitis C clinics, and community clean up. In F2023, the Community Harm Reduction Response Team made 5,158 contacts. Additionally, Street Health supported 6,243 client visits to 151 harm reduction drop-ins in F2023. The charity also distributed 767,036 harm-reduction kits. 

Street Health allocated 28% of program spending to mental health counselling in F2023. The charity's community health workers provide long-term case management support for people with mental health issues. The program serves people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

In F2023, Street Health allocated 15% of program spending to nursing services. Registered nurses and nurse practitioners are available for drop-in visits. A health card is not required to access the clinics. The charity reports that its nursing and community mental health workers made 12,447 client contacts in F2023.

Street Health spent 9% of program spending on its overdose prevention site (OPS) in F2023. Street Health describes the site as a safe place to inject drugs under supervision. The charity supported 1,358 client visits for prescriptions, monitoring, and support in F2023. 

The remaining 9% of program spending was allocated to identification (ID) services in F2023. Street Health helps homeless people get and store IDs. Without ID, seeing a doctor and opening a bank account is difficult. The charity's ID team made 4,705 contacts and processed 3,555 pieces of ID in F2023.

Street Health had total donations of $3.5m in F2023. Of these donations, $1.5m were other agency contributions. It is unclear what other agency contributions consist of. The charity's T3010 filings with the CRA classify other agency contributions as other revenue. Street Health also received $1.7m in government funding, representing 35% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 5% of revenues, and fundraising costs are 1% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 6%. For every dollar donated, 94 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending. In F2022 and F2021, Ci reported administrative and fundraising costs from the charity's T3010 filings with the CRA, which have been greater than the amounts reported in Street Health's audited financial statements. The F2023 T3010 filing is not available at the time of this report. As a result, F2023 overhead spending may be understated.

Street Health has $4.5m in reserve funds (cash and investments), which can cover 97% or almost one year of its annual program costs.

This charity report and analysis is generously funded by the E.W. Bickle Foundation to share with other Canadian donors interested in supporting health charities in Ontario.

Charity Intelligence sent an update of this report to Street Health for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 6, 2023, by Sydney Olexa.