TORONTO, ON-For 100 years, one of Toronto’s best known street ministries has been meeting the needs of the city’s poorest residents from its location at 381 Yonge Street.

Hundereds of politicians, dignitaries, staff and clients gathered to honour Yonge Street Mission’s (YSM) 100th anniversary September 2 with facility tours, music, poetry readings and a display of art created by some of the centre’s youth clients.

"We’ve been consistently [on that property] for 100 years," says YSM managing director, David Adcock. "Week in, week out. Year in, year out. Whether that’s been serving families as they moved into the city at the turn of the century…or serving soldiers as they returned from war, or serving homeless men during the depression, to the hippie movement of the ’70s, to the youth now, we’ve been a consistent symbol of God’s presence in the city."

The mission that began as a horse-drawn "Gospel Wagon" operated by John Coolidge "Hallelujah" Davis, has today become a large ministry offering diverse programs and services to area citizens.

Now operating out of four downtown Toronto locations-with almost 100 staff and another 500 volunteers-YSM runs 75 programs including daycare, counselling services, after school programs, food and clothing banks, computer literacy camps, a health centre, an employment resource centre and more. The original location at 381 Yonge Street was renamed Evergreen (Centre for Street Youth) in 1979. Last year, YSM received an estimated 125,000 client visits to its various programs and services.

"The city is proud of the mission in the way it meets the needs of people," said Toronto mayor David Miller at the celebrations. "What impresses us is their faith in and support of the people they work with."

"Many things have come and gone on Yonge Street," said city councillor Kyle Rae. "But the one constant has been the Yonge Street Mission, which has never changed its goals while maintaining a high level of care."

While the majority of YSM’s support has come from the Christian community over the years, Adcock attributes the support from the secular community to YSM’s credibility and integrity.

"We don’t hide the fact that we’re Christians, but we bring faith into our work in ways that hopefully honour the gospel, and do so in ways that offer dignity and respect for all," he explains. "And we deliver our services regardless of background, race, religion, orientation or whatever."

YSM also benefits from the help of secular volunteers who come to the mission to serve. Many of them go away changed, says Adcock.

"As a faith community, we have a responsibility to share faith in meaningful ways with the people that we serve," says Adcock. "We also have a responsibility to share faith in meaningful ways with the people with whom we serve."

Adcock says he and his colleagues are humbled by the knowledge that the Lord has enabled YSM to survive and thrive for a century, and they look forward to continuing to serve Toronto’s poor in the name of Christ in the years ahead.

"We’ve never been perfect, but there’s been a strong adherence to the values and the faith that’s at the core of who we are," he says, explaining what he believes is a reason for their longevity. "But we’ve been quite willing to flex our activity and change our programming as to how we do that."

Adcock says the staff at YSM intend to continue to fulfill its historic commitment to meeting the urgent, pressing needs of people. In developing new programs and activities, "you’ll see more and more that we’re involving ourselves in education and employment; allowing people to get the tools they need to build a life for themselves," he says.