When strangers pound at the door of her downtown Toronto apartment, Janice Bellmore has learned to keep calm, make sure her lock is secured, and turn up the TV to drown out the noise. Calling security, in the complex she’s lived in for two decades, often feels futile.
It’s not unusual for unfamiliar faces to roam her building — a weathered concrete and brick apartment, with rusting metal railings looking over a wide courtyard connecting it to hundreds of other homes. In many cases, the people who enter this sprawling complex are desperate to find potent street drugs, tenants say. And it’s a reliable place to look, as vulnerable tenants having their units taken over by dealers is a chronic problem.
TCHC’s sprawling Dan Harrison Community Complex spans more than 240,000 square feet off Sherbourne Street north of Dundas Street East.
In 2023 alone, public records show there were more than 1,800 calls from the Dan Harrison area to Toronto Community Housing’s violence prevention unit — spanning everything from a check on someone’s well-being to destructive or violent incidents.
A resident shows Star journalists around her apartment inside the Dan Harrison Community Complex.
Gerry Banks has lived at Dan Harrison more than 30 years.
Police and ambulance teams respond to an assault near 251 Sherbourne St. last month.
The layout of Dan Harrison is exacerbating some of its social problems, a 2022 report noted.
City officials have been warned of the Moss Park complex’s deteriorating state for more than 30 years. So why has little been done?
A long-time Dan Harrison resident shows Star journalists around the complex.
Resident Chantell Heavens worries about how her kids, age 10 to 25, are affected by seeing people struggle so visibly — and the influences surrounding them at formative ages.
Heavens says she has applied for a transfer to leave Dan Harrison.
For some tenants, Dan Harrison is ideal because of its proximity to social services.