What started as emails and conversations about the state of women's homelessness in the region has expanded to a full blown coalition of local organizations demanding answers to the crisis.
Gender specific shelters utilizing municipally-owned property and funding for adequate support are among the items the group wants to see both the region and city address.
With no shelter beds designated for women in Cambridge, finding actionable solutions is critical, said resident and associate professor of criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Erin Dej.
She feels the situation should be handled in the same way as other health and safety emergencies, like the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I struggle to sleep at night," Dej said.
"What'd we do during the pandemic? We found hotels and subsidies. I'd go back to how we responded to that crisis because we're at a crisis level. How can we, as a community, let this fly for one more day?"
The coalition is made up of over 20 organizations.
The Cambridge Food Bank, Cambridge Shelter Corporation, Porchlight Counselling and Addiction Services, Citizens of Cambridge, Saguen Health Centre and the YWCA Cambridge are all on board.
In an open letter, the group calls the situation a "humanitarian crisis that demands immediate attention and action."
Hidden homelessness, a term used to describe women who don't come forward about their situation, and a lack of services geared towards women and gender-diverse people are among the greatest concerns.
Women are often less likely to seek help or go to a co-ed shelter out of fear for their own safety and that of their children, Dej said.
"It doesn’t take much to imagine why a women wouldn’t feel comfortable in a co-ed shelter surrounded by men," she said.
"Women who are precariously housed are fearful of losing custody of their children. They're quite rational in their choices and it ends up penalizing them. I'd sleep in a car if it meant keeping my children."
Homelessness concerns in the region were made worse back in June when YW Kitchener-Waterloo sold the emergency women's shelter at 84 Fredrick Street.
At a Community and Health Services meeting next week, the region will hear a proposal to keep the 66-bed location open.
The YWCA Cambridge has been pushing for a women's-only shelter for the past several years and was hopeful to see it come to fruition this fall after the region approved its Plan to End Chronic Homelessness back in April.
Among the short term goals was using $1.4 million in this year's budget to help YWCA Cambridge get a new 20-bed 24/7 emergency women's shelter up and running somewhere in the city.
But as it stands, the September target will come and go with no shelter space established.
"We continue actively searching for a temporary and a permanent location for a women's emergency homeless shelter," Rosalind Gunn, director of communications and advocacy for the YWCA Cambridge, said.
"Nothing's confirmed yet, but we're optimistic."
Julie Kalbfleisch, director of communications for Sanguen Health Centre, believes something needs to be mobilized ahead of the coming winter. It starts with looking at what's currently possible within the community and what's keeping it from happening, she said.
"The problem has evolved and grown in so many ways in the last several years," Kalbfleisch said.
"It can't be the responsibility of one level of government. What’s available right now that we can operationalize? What are the barriers? Is it space, insurance?"
Kalbfleisch also uses the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of how in emergency situations, action can be expedited.
"I worked in public health during the pandemic and when we have an emergency we have the ability to work quicker and be nimble," Kalbfleisch said.
"We're hoping to get the recognition that this is an emergency too."
To read the full letter click here.
