Chapter 1 - What is Eva's Phoenix?
A Short History of the Building of
the Eva's Phoenix Site
The vision for Eva's Phoenix was born in 1998 when 
homeless youth were asked about what they needed to help them to get off the street. The reality began the next year when the City of Toronto provided a location - a fire truck repair garage - and $500,000. An additional $2.2 million was raised from other levels of government, as well as corporate and private donors to build the facility. During the construction phase of the building 50 homeless and at-risk youth were trained by the Carpenters' Union, the Drywallers' Union and the Painters' Union and worked alongside senior skilled tradespeople. Youth completed 5-weeks of hard skills and health and safety training at the respective Union Halls, followed by an intensive, hands-on work experience on the job site. Life skills training was held one half day each week, and job coaching and personal counseling was also offered. The result was not only the physical facility itself, but also what it represented: the skills, accomplishments and capabilities of the youth involved. Of the 50 youth who entered the program, 41 graduated, of which 85% had full-time work and 98% had housing at the end of the on-site work experience.
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