Toronto’s skyline looks picture-perfect with its glowing glass and ever-growing array of new condos, but zoom out a little and the cracks start to show. The city’s homelessness crisis has more than doubled since 2021, and honestly? It’s impossible to ignore. Singer-songwriter Richard Todd is out on the frontlines and using his voice to raise awareness. His project, “The Forgotten Homeless,” takes that heartbreak and turns it into harmony, a collaboration of Toronto artists and community leaders using music to stir empathy and action. The track features Chris Birkett, Sarah Siddiqui, David Moses, Anna Goldsmith, Luciana Santaguida, Michael Quattro, Shari Tallon and more. Now featured in the City’s At Home in Toronto exhibit, the song’s guitar, lyrics, and video have become a kind of emotional time capsule — proof that art can still make people stop, listen, and actually care. I caught up with Todd to talk about activism through melody, staying hopeful when the city feels cold, and why kindness might just be the most punk thing left.
JG: You’ve brought together a powerhouse ensemble of Toronto musicians under the Artists Against Homelessness banner. What was that collaborative energy like, and how did it shape the emotional core of the song?
Richard Todd: The song “The Forgotten Homeless,” which I wrote, could have been easily recorded and released by me, but then it would just be ‘Toronto artist released a song about homelessness.’ I thought it would be much better to have a whole community of people passionate about trying to find sustainable solutions to this growing crisis. So the energy in the room, just getting everybody to sing and getting everybody together for the video, it was priceless. Everyone worked so well together, and it really created such a positive, positive atmosphere, knowing that we’re all doing something that will hopefully contribute to the greater good.
JG: What was it like getting everyone together? How did you decide on who you wanted?
Richard Todd: We were looking for a diverse group of people who help represent what Toronto’s population is like, and also people who really felt driven to help. You know artists are generally empathetic. They are very connected to social causes, and homelessness is a big one right now. It’s a growing crisis in Toronto. They say that 15,400 people tonight in Toronto may go without a bed, and that’s ridiculous, really. I mean, that’s the population of a small town.
JG: That’s unfortunate. The stats are shocking. Turning empathy into activism through music isn’t a new thing, but art about social issues can sometimes get reduced to slogans or bumper stickers. How did you keep the humanity front and center in this project?
Richard Todd: Well, it was because the song was written telling some stories about people who were homeless. It wasn’t just saying that people are homeless and we all need to help. Homeless people are out there. People are hungry. They need a bed. It wasn’t about sloganeering so much as it was telling human stories, because really, homelessness has so many different faces, and every person who is out on the streets right now has a story. So by telling the story in the song, that’s how we kept the humanity and kept the empathy without just, as you said, sloganeering, because really. Slogans can be catchy. That’s what they’re designed to be, but do they really help? I don’t know. The way I write songs is I like to tell stories, and these are stories that I’m very proud to share with people, although the subject matter isn’t always pleasant. It’s something that we really need to face as a society if we’re gonna help solve this problem.
JG: Toronto’s homelessness crisis has exploded in recent years. What responsibility do you think the city’s artists and musicians have in confronting that reality, and what does that look like beyond awareness?
Richard Todd: I think the responsibility lies with people in general to help our society grow and to help protect community members, especially those who are vulnerable. Actually, I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s our responsibility, but it’s certainly something that we can do or take upon ourselves to really come up with solutions to help solve this. Going beyond this, there are so many things that people can do. I started out years ago with a campaign called Warm It Up!, which me and a team of people, we’d go out and hand out coffee cards to people who were in need, so they could get out of the cold. It was a particularly cold December that year. Get inside, enjoy a hot drink, and stay indoors for a short time. Later, we also added a sock component to that called Sock Patrol, and we gave out pairs of socks.
One of the best things I like about this project is not only does it identify the many faces of homelessness, but it also gives the community at large the opportunity to support it by not having to go out into the community, by not having to engage, by not having to get directly involved, and without donating their own money, because I know economics are tight right now. By streaming the song, you’re raising money that we use to donate to WoodGreen Community Services, which connects vulnerable people with supportive housing. So really, this is a long-term solution. The song will be online forever. So as long as people stream it and stream it and stream it, they’re really able to make a difference without having to spend their time or their own money, which gets shorter and shorter both of them all the time and helps us create some awareness and also help people get out of the cold.
JG: Warm it Up! and now this project shows you’re as much a community organizer as a songwriter. Do you think music still has the power to move people to real-world action in 2025, or are we becoming numb to causes?
Richard Todd: You know, that’s such a great question. I know sometimes there’s what they call donation fatigue. Whenever there’s something, a crisis or some new problem that needs to be solved, people are coming to them for money. People do become numb to these things. But more importantly, we can become numb to the problems that are plaguing society right now. Homelessness is one. You know, 7 to 10 years ago, there were only 7,500 people who were estimated to be homeless in Toronto, and now it’s more than double that.
I don’t want this to become normalized, where you think that, “Oh, people are homeless,” right? We don’t want to normalize that. We want to keep this out front and say, “These are human beings, all with stories.” There is always the risk of people becoming numb to society’s problems, especially as they become overwhelming. Social media throws things at us all the time that can be overwhelming, right? Never mind traditional media as well. So, do people turn off? Yes. Music, however, is an escape for a lot of people, right? And even when it’s something like “The Forgotten Homeless” that tells a story, it’s not necessarily a happy song. But it can have a happy ending; if we can help, we can help a few people get off the streets.
JG: You’ve seen firsthand the impact of small acts of kindness through your outreach work. In your view, what’s one thing everyday Torontonians could do right now that would make a genuine difference?
Richard Todd: Stream “The Forgotten Homeless.” Seriously, because this is something you can do every day, multiple times a day, and it really contributes to sustainable solutions. People can go out, and they can give money, they can give food and everything, but where’s that next meal gonna come from, right? As you know, if you give them something to eat today, where’s the next meal gonna come from? Where’s the bed gonna come from? So, there are small things they could do like that, which is always welcomed by the vulnerable community, but streaming the song again. I know I keep coming back to that. It’s just such an easy, convenient way to support, so why not?
JG: Perfect. Of course. I guess, lastly, where’s “The Forgotten Homeless” available?
Richard Todd: All streaming platforms, Spotify. Apple Music. I believe it’s on Deezer. It should be on Amazon everywhere. Everywhere. YouTube Music as well, and the video, too, which features all the singers, is also on YouTube. So check it out, everybody. Give us a hand, help us out.
Follow Richard Todd on Instagram.
Learn more about Artists Against Homelessness on Facebook.
For more information on WoodGreen Community Services, visit here.
