Emergency shelter for women in Cambridge delayed, no new opening date

Women experiencing homelessness in the region will have to wait a little longer for a shelter bed.

A temporary, emergency shelter that was supposed to open in November at Grace Bible Church in Cambridge has been delayed with no real opening date set.

YWCA Cambridge plans to host the 20-bed shelter that will have wraparound services. Once open, it will be the first shelter in the region for women experiencing homelessness. The CEO, Kim Decker, told 570 NewsRadio that the group ran into some surprises during renovations that tend to happen in older buildings.

“The contractors and architects are on it and correcting those as quickly as possible and that’s really what the delay has been.”

They hope to open by January 2025 or the end of December, but Decker says they can’t say a date at this time.

“We want women to have a place where they can feel safe and be out of the cold, but we just don’t have that firm answer quite yet,” said Decker.

Before renovations started on the church in Galt, it was an open space that was used for as a childcare centre.

“They are creating bedrooms, there is a full kitchen there, there will be a common space, there will be some programing space, some offices, washrooms, showers, laundry facilities – those are all the kinds of things that we’re doing in that space,” added Decker.

They plan to keep the site at 20-beds, with no plans to renovate further until a more permanent location is found.

“There are better results when you have smaller, scattered site shelters that have wraparound supports than with larger shelters,” said Decker.

“Once that’s set up and running, we will refocus and start to look more diligently again for either space or land to build on or another building to renovate that could be a permanent space.”

Until the temporary shelter for women experiencing homelessness is open, it won’t be listed on First Connect – the region’s calling system for helping people connect to an empty shelter bed. The number for First Connect in Waterloo Region is (519) 624-9133.

Decker mentioned once they are up and running, they will place women into the shelter using that system.

YWCA Cambridge is still looking for help with donations to get the shelter beds ready for the 20 women. The community is invited to drop off brand new bedding for single beds, pillows, pillowcases, linens, and comforters to their headquarters at 55 Dickson Street.

They are also looking for pajamas, underwear and socks.