The Out of the Cold program was initiated in 1987 by the students of St. Michael’s School with the support and guidance of Sister Susan Moran of the order of Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow. The program was established after a group of students befriended a homeless man who had frequented the area near the school. Within a couple of weeks the relationship between the Students and the homeless man, he unfortunately died. This impacted the Students deeply and with Sr. Susan they began discussing what they could do to alleviate homelessness.

Sr. Susan then began connecting with various faith groups across the City of Toronto to discuss the opportunity of having the faith groups organize groups of volunteers at each Church and Synagogue to provide a safe refuge for the homeless members of our society as a temporary solution to the issue of homelessness. The plan was simply that the faith group volunteers would open their doors one day a week for a period of approximately 23 weeks as well as provide food and hospitality to the homeless which are considered Guests of the program.


Although the program opened initially with one faith group, the idea quickly caught on and to date there are now 19 various faith groups in the City of Toronto that provide this much-needed service.

Dixon Hall was established in 1929 as a soup kitchen during the depression. Currently Dixon Hall provides a multitude of services such as Child and Youth, seniors and Homeless, Hostels and Housing supports. In 2003 Dixon Hall was approached by the City of Toronto to undertake the management and operations of the Out of the Cold programs. Once awarded the contract to provide resources and supports to the programs an extensive consultation process with the various faith groups was conducted to identify the needs of the various programs, those needs were safety and security as well as transportation and blankets for the Guests. Dixon Hall also began the process of developing a “Host Site Advisory Group” that would discuss ongoing issues and concerns regarding the state of homelessness as well as updates on program development and provide an opportunity to share information amongst the volunteers.