Region buying KW YWCA site for permanent shelter
Waterloo Region council has authorized the purchase of the KW YWCA women’s shelter at 84 Frederick St., which it intends to continue using as a shelter space under a different operating model.
“This building is being used as a shelter. It’s purpose-built and provides an opportunity,” Peter Sweeney, the region’s commissioner of community services told council on Wednesday, prior to its approval of almost $9.5 million in debt financing for the acquisition ($6.5 million) and capital renewal.
The KW YWCA announced that it was closing its 66-bed women’s shelter earlier this year and moving to a different model of care.
“The fact that this came on the market and looks like it has the potential to provide the stability that commissioner Sweeney is talking about within the shelter system, I think makes this a very good purchase,” said regional Chair Karen Redman, noting that plenty of discussion went into site selection.
Some councillors, including Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, expressed concern with the impact it could have on the surrounding community given the concentration of services and residential facilities in the downtown area.
“I am concerned that this particular site is not necessarily the right site for a shelter,” said Vrbanovic, who voted in favour of the purchase but said his determination will ultimately depend on the operating model that comes back to council.
Sweeney acknowledged impacts to the Rockway community due to the temporary emergency shelter that opened in the fall of 2022 inside the former Schwaben Club on King Street East. That lease will come to an end no later than March 31 of next year and 84 Frederick will help offset the anticipated closure of 100 beds.
“Obviously this will lift the load off the residents in the King East
neighborhood, which is a good thing,” Vrbanovic said, “but it’s going to create new challenges for about 500 plus residents in the two highrise buildings adjoining this property as well as the supportive housing that’s going right behind it at St. Peter’s, and then the surrounding areas for the downtown. ”
The operating model will come back to council for approval and will address specific challenges related to capacity, security and services that will be provided 24/7, Sweeney said. The site will support individuals with on-site programming such as health, addictions and employment support, according to a press release issued after the meeting.
“This particular opportunity is intended to bring a level of stability into the system,” he said, noting the shelter system capacity has doubled to more than 600 since 2018, including motels and transitional housing.
“You’ve heard me reference the 17 shelters we’ve opened over the last four years, many of which we’ve opened and closed,” he said. “This approach has been a very necessary and important step to address the acuity of the situation. It is also a very disruptive approach. It is disruptive to the communities in surrounding neighborhoods, it is disruptive to the staff of our partners who are supporting the people that we serve, and it is disruptive to those that we aim to serve as well.”
The need for emergency beds will hopefully decrease over time with the region’s plan to end chronic homelessness, and 84 Frederick St. could be transitioned to provide other forms of supportive and affordable housing in the future, Sweeney said.