Getting By
What is Getting By?
Getting By is a nonprofit for anyone who is struggling. Life can change in a moment, and even the most successful people can find themselves somewhere they never saw coming. That is exactly why we exist.
Our app is the heart of our mission. It puts every tool, resource and helping hand we can find in one place, so someone having a hard day doesn’t spend hours searching, or fail to find the help at all.
We are also working on easy ways to get deep discounts on groceries, free food through QR codes from our sponsors, and travel vouchers from local city transit.
Our goal is simple: to turn someone hungry into a full belly and a good night’s sleep.
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Ontario’s leader in giving back
Getting By is a free resource app. It makes it easy to find everything on offer from government, charitable facilities and people, so life gets a little easier these days. No login. No ID. No questions about your status.
Don’t Ignore the Silent Cry
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Why this exists
The baby is out of diapers. There’s no car. 2-1-1 is busy. The list you found online is two years old.
Getting By answers one question: where can I go right now, can I really get in, and how do I get there for free?
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Our mission
Our goal at Getting By is to make sure that nobody, in 2026 or on any day after it, has to face the fact that nobody cares and go to bed that way: an empty stomach, no bed, out in the cold, a baby crying.
That is not needed. Not in this day and age.
Our mission is for people to feel they are not forgotten, and that there is still a little humanity left in this world. Getting By shows it, one person at a time.
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Our challenge
We challenge every citizen who drives past someone living without a home, or never stops to think about someone having a tough time, to give when they are in a better situation than that person.
Hard times can fall on anybody. In September 2026 alone, employment in Canada fell by 68,000 jobs. The evidence is there, more than ever.
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, September 2026 (released October 9, 2026).
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Pets are family too
Pets wait for you at the door, stay beside you on the hardest nights, and never ask what you can afford.
Many people give up their pets because they can’t afford their own lives right now. We can’t imagine how devastating that is, for the owner and for the pet. Pets are the most loyal creatures on the planet, and we encourage every owner to stay with theirs.
We want to help every pet whose person is going through a hard time. Our goal is to keep those bonds together at all costs. We look to our donors to help us do it.
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Adopt a family
There is nothing wrong with giving your love and care to people who need it. Adopt a family: a single mother with two kids, or a single father with two kids, who are having a hard time right now.
Be there at Christmas and the holidays, and again when it’s time to go back to school. It doesn’t have to be a one-time thing. Show up again and again, and really change someone’s life.
Watch them get back on their feet. You’d be surprised how much a little love can do for someone.
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Start with what you need
Food banks and meals near you.
Shelters and the 24/7 intake line.
Crisis lines, any hour. Quick exit is always on screen.
Diapers by size. In the app, coming soon.
A $0 trip plan on every listing. In the app, coming soon.
Plain-language steps. In the app, coming soon.
Card pictures are AI-generated illustrations. They are not photos of real people or places.
Free for everyone
Help at your fingertips, the way nobody has seen it before. It all lives in one free app, so finding help gets a lot easier. No login. No ID.
Our Pioneer Donors will always be appreciated. They are truly part of the building blocks and the foundation of the Getting By system, the system of giving and getting by.
In most of Canada, dial 2-1-1 (free, any hour, 150+ languages) and ask for an emergency bed near you. In York Region, Central Intake answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
York Region: 1-877-464-9675 · ext. 76140Our supporters
Donate, and add your name to our growing list of supporters. Every penny counts. Every person who donates to Getting By gets their own little spotlight on our website. The minute you give, you add your name, and it joins the people who actually have a heart these days. You can edit it any time. Businesses that sponsor upload their logo the same way.
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Give before the first snow
Anyone can donate to Getting By. We reach the local people who need it. Every single person gets the attention they deserve when they’re struggling.
Watch our YouTube videos to see what giving does.
Watch on YouTube$9/month
Keeps the listings fresh.
$19/month
Helps a neighbour sleep safe tonight.
$49/month
Helps a family make it through the month.
From $5,000
Your logo floating behind ours and on every printed guide.
Every monthly plan includes public recognition, volunteer status and a newsletter every month, so you always know you helped. Business sponsors get the monthly newsletter too.
Donors are welcome to volunteer and join us on our YouTube videos, on missions where we give to the public right then, right there. No bureaucracy. No decision committee. Real, live help.
Contact us to find out when our next scheduled YouTube surprise is, a chance to bless someone in need. We’re more than happy to have you join us.
Or call one of our directors:
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Every resource, in one place
Government programs, food, beds, health care, charities, transit and people who care, for 844 towns across Canada. Call before you go.
Your location is only used if you press the button, and it never leaves your device.
