There's a new group in Toronto safely walking folks home in the Village

Toronto's Church and Wellesley Village neighbourhood has felt unsafe for a while now, especially at night. With a lot of folks walking home after the bars close on (and around) Church Street, things can get really unsafe.

The community came together last year in an amazing community moment to peacefully demand the government step in. We’re no experts, and can imagine this is something that’s very hard to manage, but it feels like we need more real solutions to make sure folks can feel safe.

That's where Queer Toronto Walk Safe (QTWS) comes in. Recently launched by our very own events editor Vee Willard (she/her), the volunteer group is a reaction to increasing dangers for queers in society as a whole. Vee has also been fed up with recent news about disappearances and has been hearing from people in the community about the tensions in the village post-partying. Vee, who also runs two queer events groups for Ottawa and Toronto on FB sees, reads and hears a lot from folks out there. We asked her a few questions about the new initiative.

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You've started a very cool project to keep people feeling safe in the village! Can you explain what it is exactly, and does it have a name?

If you’re queer and have to walk home from the Village at night (from events or dates or work or whatever), but feel unsafe or vulnerable walking on your own, you can arrange beforehand to have a volunteer walker help you get home. 

It's called Queer Toronto Walk Safe and it's a volunteer organization that matches vulnerable queer folks with volunteer walkers to help make sure they get home safe from the Village at night.

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What sparked this idea in the first place?

The world is getting scarier for queer people. I think over the years we’ve come to think of the disappearances and bashings and murders as just part of our culture. And it doesn’t seem to be getting better right now – it looks like it’s getting worse.

Locally, I always hear about bad shit happening in the Village, and I guess I’ve just had enough. I’m sure things are being done by The 519 and other organizations, but I want to add something to that mix. I’m tired of doing nothing and just soaking in the bad feelings – it makes me feel sick.

I just think, when have we ever waited for the world to solve our problems? We solve our problems – we always have. So let’s be strong instead of being victims. And we’re strongest when we work together.

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What does this group mean to you personally after all your work in the community all these years (Vee used to work for Fab Magazine in events, and as a columnist and writer, for Xtra.ca as well)?

I get to promote the queer community in a whole new way. A very concrete way where I help people get home safe from lovely queer lives in a world where murders and disappearances among queers are commonplace.

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What kind of folks should volunteer for this?

Volunteer walkers should be queer (self-identifying, obviously). Next, I want you to ask yourself, do you feel that someone would be safer walking with you than they would be alone? Beyond that, there will be a vetting process – I’m working on that now.

I should also mention it is my hope that down the line we can get all the volunteer walkers trained in CPR and how to use Narcan and maybe even take some self-defence classes. Hopefully someplace will offer that all up for free.

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How and where can people reach out to volunteer or to get a walk home?

The first step in both cases is to join the private Facebook group. Then, if you’re a prospective walker you should let me know (I’m the founder and the group admin) and I will start working on vetting and a kind of roster of walkers. If you are someone who wants to be walked home, there is a simple form in the group you can fill out and we can go from there. Please also note that you can join now even if you’re not sure when down the road you will need to be walked. Your need doesn’t need to be immediate. You can also follow the Instagram page here.

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We'll keep y'all posted as the group develops and grows. Until then stay locked to the FB group for all updates or follow the QTWF IG page.