Help This Way Up Buy A Kitchen

This Way Up is looking to fund a full-time kitchen for the care we provide! We are crowdfunding $60,000 to support this dream, and we welcome and share gratitude with those reading our story and deciding to support our cause monetarily.

This Way Up is a collective of individuals who have been or are currently a part of the shelter system, or experiencing precarious housing in Toronto. We founded this initiative with the intention of helping other homeless queer and trans BIPOC youth. That still remains a large part of our motivation, but since we’ve grown and reflected on our roots and have shifted our focus to extend our reach. We want to be clear though: this collective prioritizes Black, Indigenous, and other People of Colour who identify as a part of the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

During the pandemic, we have provided hot meals and love to encampment communities, QTBIPOC youth in shelters, the community fridges and done one off projects with family shelters. This was all possible due to our hard work and the support of many other community groups and organizations.

We have been utilizing a rented kitchen in order to prepare all of our meals, and we have received a recent opportunity to buy our kitchen we have been working in! To achieve this goal, we need to raise $60,000 which goes into funding the kitchen space, updating the appliances, doing a deep clean of the kitchen, and continuing to fund meals for the community. If we are able to fund this dream and make it a reality, we will be able to expand our team, provide support to more community members on a more regular basis, and expand the programming that we provide (such as art programs and more outreach).

This Way Up Collective was literally founded on the floor of a shelter room by four members. We started by cooking in the small kitchen we had access to in the shelter where we all met. The day we first rented a kitchen to work out of was an exciting moment for all of us. We never expected our little group to grow into what it's become and we couldn't be more proud! We've worked hard, even when there were times where it would've been easier to give up. There's still so much we want to do, and this would be an amazing first step. We are so grateful for all the support that we have received so far, and all the support that's ongoing! Thank you endlessly ♥