Stephen Simpson and his mother found safety behind the red door.

Just 6 years old then, he and his mother fled an abusive household. With nowhere left to turn they sought refuge at Red Door Family Shelter, a 106-bed facility with a future threatened by a potential condominium deal.

“When you don’t have much family or access to money, you don’t really have choices. That’s why the Red Door is so important — it’s a choice to families who have nothing else,” said Simpson to a packed community meeting at the Ralph Thornton Centre in Toronto’s east end.

“Despite the millions of people in this great city, my family at that time was alone. I find it very disheartening that a village can raise a kid but a city can’t. It’s a sad commentary on the state of our great city that families are forced to choose between being physically and emotionally destroyed or being homeless, and that’s why we need the Red Door,” said Simpson, now 33 and working as a lawyer.

“We need to choose to be the village that raises a child with love and dignity. The Red Door did that for me and I’m a better person for it and I think the city’s better for it as well,” he said.

Red Door Family Shelter has been a fixture in South Riverdale for more than 30 years, providing help for about 500 families a year. It serves mothers and children fleeing abuse, refugee families and others in need. More than 300 people came out to the community meeting Monday night that was called in an attempt to raise awareness about the shelter’s situation.

The property was entered into receivership after a bitter legal dispute between Toronto diet doctor Stanley Bernstein and his neighbours and co-owners Norma and Ronauld Walton. Prospective purchaser Chris Harhay of Harhay Developments has not said what lies in the future for the shelter. Harhay, whose company has developed several upscale condos in downtown Toronto, did not return a call from the Star Monday afternoon. The deal is slated to close July 31. Any potential purchaser of the site is required to extend the shelter’s lease until March 31, 2015.

For Kozeta Izeti, 36, the Red Door was her gateway to the country. She arrived 13 years ago with her husband and 13-month-old son. All were refugees from Albania with little command of English and no connections, but through the services at Red Door she learned English and found healthcare for her son.

“I never thought that red door would not have a permanent home for themselves when they gave a home to so many other people,” said Izeti. “I cannot put it in words how much help and support and direction that Red Door shelter gave to us.”

Izeti now runs a successful Forest Hill salon called Kozeta Salon.

“If it wasn’t for red door shelter I wouldn’t be where I am. When I went there and told them what I wanted to do and what my dream was, they showed me a door where the school was, they showed me a door where to learn English, they showed me a door where to bring my son to daycare while I was studying, and the list goes on and on,” she said.

Municipal, provincial and federal politicians in the area have lined up behind the shelter, promising a barrage of political challenges that would push back against any effort to redevelop the site that doesn’t include the shelter. Toronto mayoral candidate Olivia Chow made a surprise appearance at the meeting to express her support.

Former Toronto mayor David Crombie, who spoke in support of the shelter, was appointed to head a group of leaders that will reach out to higher levels of government to attempt to save Red Door.

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“I have a feeling, I may be wrong, but every once in awhile in this complicated city there are some things that come through, and it seems to me if we can’t make a cause of the Red Door — looking out for women and children in need — then this city is in a lot more trouble than some of us think,” he said.