Countless cars cross the intersection of Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue in Toronto’s North York every day. The intersection is like thousands of other intersections in Canada’s largest city. In one corner a gas station, in another a large parking lot next to an expansive garden. Comfortable homes interspersed with mature trees complete the landscape. Clearing this intersection, commuters are not likely to pay attention to an unassuming gray bench with a plaque on its backrest. The plaque reads: “Dedicated to Linda and Homeless People Everywhere”.

Linda was very familiar with Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue. In fact, on many evenings the flow of traffic in the intersection was the last thing that she saw as she closed her eyes and dozed off on a bench that stood in the same place where the bench dedicated to her is now. In daytime, Linda kept moving from Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue to Don Mills Road and from Don Mills Road to Yonge Street. When she needed rest, bus shelters and gas stations offered her refuge. One day when she returned to Leslie and Lawrence, she found that her bench was gone. Complaints about a homeless woman in the area resulted in the City of Toronto removing it in hopes that Linda would disappear. The woman kept on walking, eventually settling in at a gas station washroom in the Yonge Street and York Mills Road intersection. On September 28, 1997, a heart attack ended Linda’s life in this washroom. She was all alone.

Photographs from Linda’s early years show a happy, young woman surrounded by many siblings. Her three daughters remember a loving, devoted mother. Then Linda developed schizophrenia. Paranoia is a frequent symptom of this disease. Sufferers become suspicious of the people in their lives, often convinced that these individuals want to harm them. Linda reacted to her paranoia by withdrawing from all relationships. 

The Franciscan Church of Saint Bonaventure is located at 1300 Leslie Street, just a short walk from the bench at Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue where Linda found respite. Her death reached the Franciscan Friars Conventual at St. Bonaventure as well as the faith community. They could not allow Linda’s passing to be in vain. Remembering that Saint Francis of Assisi often said, “Preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words,” they formed a charitable organization called Friends of Saint Francis. This organization’s purpose would be to prevent stories like Linda’s from happening again.

Over the years, consultations with mental health experts followed, resulting in a plan to create Saint Clare Inn, a transitional home for women between the ages of 35 and 60 who are facing mental health challenges. Women in this age bracket are statistically most likely not to have a connection to a social safety net. Linda was about 40 years old when she died. Her family and healthcare workers had completely lost track of her at the time of her death.

Since Saint Clare Inn would operate without government assistance, Friends of Saint Francis began a continuous fundraising outreach to support this ministry. The effort now includes two events per year, Linda’s Walk and a themed gala. The walk takes participants along the streets of North York to honor Linda's memory. The themed gala meanwhile stirs people’s imaginations with fantastic cuisine and decorations. Persons interested in donating to Saint Clare Inn outside of Linda’s Walk and the gala can easily do so through their banks, the United Way, and the online portal CanadaHelps.org.

In 2007, donations from individuals as well as grants from organizations allowed Saint Clare Inn to open in a two-bedroom house in Toronto’s East York and hire support staff. Volunteers decorated the house with warm, friendly furniture and created spaces for togetherness as well as personal time. Within two months, the house was occupied by three residents. Today, Saint Clare Inn operates from a five-bedroom house in another residential neighborhood in Toronto. It is also fully occupied.

When Saint Clare of Assisi founded the Poor Clares in 1212, she envisioned a true community where sisters could count on each other no matter what. When Friar Tom Purcell, one of the Franciscans Conventual at St. Bonaventure Parish, became executive director of Saint Clare Inn, he also urged its residents and staff to form a community. As a result, everyone at the inn gathers in the dining room each evening at around 5:00 o’clock to share a meal cooked by a staff member and one of the residents. Each resident cooks a meal for the household (with assistance) once a week. Residents also take responsibility for keeping the entire house tidy. Through cooking, eating together, tidying up, and countless other gestures, they make Saint Clare Inn their own.

Women discover Saint Clare Inn through social workers who refer them to the home. When they arrive they are often uncertain about their surroundings and not thinking about their futures. Trained staff support them through difficult moments and guide them to develop new, healthy routines. Staff also take residents to all medical appointments, which ensure that these individuals stay healthy for the long term. Once residents have developed positive routines, staff guide them in planning for the future. Residents can stay at Saint Clare Inn for as long as one year. After this time, they take a step towards independent living. Staff ensure that when the time comes to leave, they have a new home along with employment or are attending school.

On April 27, 2024, Franciscan Friars Conventual, Saint Bonaventure parishioners and Friends of Saint Francis members met at the Donalda Club for a 1980s retro gala. In a pleasant atmosphere of music and a splendid natural landscape with the Don River meandering its way past fields and trees, they shared a meal and remembered that the need to help unhoused women dealing with mental illnesses is greater than ever. Their fundraiser not only brought in much needed funds that will assist the residents of Saint Clare Inn, but it also reflected St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare of Assisi to the world. Francis like Saint Clare embraced the idea of community members working together to resolve challenges. He also always embraced all those people that society had cast out into the wilderness. He surely would not have allowed Linda to walk the streets of North York all alone.