Warming Centre for women, gender-diverse people opens in Cambridge

An overnight warming centre for women and gender-diverse people opened over the weekend in Cambridge. The centre is located at Wesley United Church at 6 Cambridge St. and plans to run from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. nightly.

It’s run by Porchlight Counselling and Addiction Services alongside the Region of Waterloo. It first announced a fast plan to open a warming centre Jan. 20.

“We were really hoping to see the YWCA’s shelter for women open simultaneously, to close that service gap in the community,” said Cameron Dearlove, Porchlight’s Executive Director in a media release.

“Unfortunately, that hasn’t been possible. Without any shelter beds for women in the community, Porchlight and the Region decided to pivot this facility to serve female-identifying and gender diverse individuals. Once the YWCA’s shelter is open, we’ll reassess what makes the most sense within the community.”

That emergency shelter in Cambridge for women and gender-diverse individuals has pushed back it’s opening dates several times over the last few months due to renovation delays.

“Work to open this centre has progressed extremely quickly,” said Dearlove. “This is outside Porchlight’s usual area of work, but when we experienced a cold snap in early January and learned that no other organizations had stepped forward with the capacity for a centre this winter, we knew we had to act. An incredible team from the Region, Porchlight, and elsewhere has come together and been working hard to get this needed space open as quickly as possible.”

In October the region learned through a Point in Time (PIT) Count that there are at least 2,371 people experiencing homelessness that they could find or record in the area.

“Our most vulnerable neighbours need options to stay warm during these cold months and this new overnight centre in Cambridge will make a real difference for many people,” said Regional Councillor Jim Erb in the release.

Donations are also needed by Porchlight to run the centre. The organization is looking for community groups who can help out with sandwiches or simple meal prep nightly for the women and gender-diverse people staying there.

Those donations can be made to Porchlight’s office at 1315 Bishop St. N., unit 203, or before noon at Wesley United Church on Fridays. Organizations looking to help with food prep can contact Centre Coordinator Julie at warmingcentre@porchlightcnd.org.