The man didn’t want to talk — that much was clear. Living below a bridge in the Rosedale ravine, and in the grips of a severe mental illness, it was the kind of case that could feel impossible to untangle, even to Toronto’s veteran street outreach workers. But city hall’s Brent Kitagawa was willing to wait.
Again and again over the course of a year, Kitagawa would show up — recognizable in his quintessential denim shirt, which colleagues joked would remain casually unbuttoned in even the most treacherous of winter weather. He didn’t turn up empty-handed, regularly bringing the man a little something to eat or a hot cup of coffee. Slowly but surely, a fragile trust began to form.