Homelessness has surged in recent years, aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Toronto’s Kensington Market, St. Stephen-in-the-Fields Anglican Church became host to an encampment in 2022, when a community began to form in the yard beside the church.

For Mother Maggie Helwig and her parish, the encampment allowed its residents to survive and support each other. For others, it was a problem to be solved.

Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community is Helwig’s story of caring for the residents and defending the encampment from the legal and political forces that sought to dismantle it.

Today, the churchyard has only two remaining permanent residents, as well as two others who come and go frequently. After the city removed the residents’ belongings and placed a large fence around the churchyard in fall 2023, most relocated to encampments elsewhere. But the church continues to be a site of community and connection for former residents and others experiencing homelessness.

Amarah Hasham-Steele spoke with Helwig about Encampment and the events that........

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