Shelter shortfall in Cambridge leaves over 160 women with nowhere to go
Posted Feb 24, 2026 12:59:13 PM.
Last Updated Feb 24, 2026 12:59:21 PM.
YWCA Cambridge is putting out an urgent call for systemic change after seeing what running a women’s shelter has been like in the first year of operation.
Opening its doors in February 2025, the shelter only has 20 beds and runs out of Grace Bible Church (temporarily) on Grand Avenue. In the last year, its had to turn away over 160 people looking for safe shelter in Cambridge.
“This first year has been a reckoning,” said Kim Decker, CEO of YWCA Cambridge, in a press release. “We aren’t here to celebrate an anniversary, but to sound the alarm. We are seeing women over the age of 50—many homeless for the first time in their lives—and an overrepresentation of Indigenous women. Our 20 beds are a lifeline, but they are not a solution to the systemic failures that are pushing women into homelessness.”
The organization is still known as Cambridge’s first and only homeless shelter for women. Only a handful operate for women in Waterloo Region.
In the first year, the shelter ran at 94.25 per cent capacity. The data collected reveals a much more concerning and deepening crisis happening.
In December alone, Decker said that 67 per cent of clients were aged 50 and older. The continuing gender wage gap played a role, as well as inadequate pensions and the possible loss of a partner who may have been the primary earner in the family.
Another critical trend YWCA Cambridge saw was the need arising from Indigenous populations. In the year, Indigenous people make up about 26 per cent of the clients served.
There was some good news reported as Decker said they have seen success come from their programs, about 20 per cent of their clients are successful with transitioning out of the shelter.
Those successes are defined not only by permanent housing but also include “long-term care, substance use treatment, and culturally appropriate transitional housing.”
YWCA Cambridge is calling on all levels of government to respond to the need for housing and shelter spaces.
“We have proven that 24/7, trauma-informed, wrap-around support works. It builds the trust necessary for women to move toward stability,” added Decker. “But we cannot move women through the system if there is nowhere for them to go. We need more than just emergency beds; we need a community-wide commitment to meaningful, permanent housing solutions.”
After having to turn away over 160 women in the past year, YWCA Cambridge wants to see more low-barrier drop-in spaces created, as well as affordable housing with more built-in supports for seniors. They add that a dedicated family shelter for women and children is also needed.
“Currently, these forms of housing and supports are nonexistent in Cambridge,” reads the press release.
The shelter is currently still in search of a permanent location, as the one set up in the basement of the church is just temporary.
They are also accepting donations from the community currently.
High-priority items needed:
- NEW underwear, bras (ideally sports bras, bralettes without a cup/band size)
- Full bottles of shampoo, conditioner
- Liquid body wash
- Nail kits
- Hairbrushes, hair ties
- Laundry Pods (not liquid/powder)
- Lysol wipes
- Gift cards to Tim Horton’s “for folks we need to turn away”
