CambridgeToday received the following letter to the editor from FightBack! KW's Acer Bonaparte about the Region of Waterloo's first overnight warming centre.
The Region of Waterloo's long-awaited announcement regarding the opening of its first overnight warming centre on Jan. 17 has been met with mixed reactions, including significant concern from community groups and advocates.
While FightBack! KW welcomes the news that the region is taking a step toward addressing the dire needs of its unhoused neighbors, it raises critical issues regarding the centre's accessibility, its location, and its systemic shortcomings in responding to homelessness.
The centre, operated in collaboration with Thresholds, will be open from 7:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Lawrence Avenue, located a 30-minute walk from downtown Kitchener and Kitchener City Hall.
Unfortunately, the new facility offers just 20 spaces. That's less than 1 per cent of the estimated 2,317 homeless people in Waterloo region, leaving the vast majority without shelter during freezing temperatures.
Moreover, the centre will not accept women or gender-diverse individuals. According to a Region of Waterloo official, women will be referred to the 84 Frederick Shelter, a location that provides gender-specific services but has only 37 beds—less than 2 per cent of the region's homeless population.
The shelter is often at capacity, and women and trans individuals report having to alternate between shelter nights and sleeping on the streets, with no guarantee of safety or warmth. Additionally, the 84 Frederick Shelter is a 40-minute walk from the Lawrence Avenue warming centre, forcing vulnerable individuals to traverse the streets alone at night in unsafe conditions.
FightBack! KW strongly condemns this exclusion, calling it a harmful and discriminatory response to the ongoing crisis of gender-based violence in the shelter system.
Discrimination against women and trans individuals is not an acceptable solution. These groups have the right to equal access to life-saving services, including overnight warming spaces. By excluding them from this critical resource, the region is further marginalizing them and placing them in harm's way.
The Region of Waterloo has repeatedly fallen short in providing adequate emergency shelter for the unhoused, even after years of planning under the Plan to End Chronic Homelessness.
According to regional councillor Jim Erb, chair of the community and health services committee, "finding more solutions to help our most vulnerable stay safe and warm is a top priority." However, this priority has not been reflected in the region's actions.
With only enough emergency shelter spaces for 25 per cent of the homeless population, 75 per cent of Waterloo’s unhoused individuals still face the threat of freezing temperatures each night.
FightBack! KW highlights that the region's systemic failure is not new, with many in the community noting that "November comes the same time every year," underscoring the predictable and annual nature of this crisis.
Despite ongoing and growing needs, the region waited until mid-January to open this centre and chose to exclude women and trans individuals, exacerbating the dangers they face during winter months.
Peter Sweeney, commissioner of community services at the Region of Waterloo, acknowledges the growing homeless population, stating, "We are in a situation where we have more people who are homeless than we have supports for."
However, FightBack! KW argues that this crisis is not solely due to a lack of funding but a choice to delay action, neglect the training of shelter staff to handle common challenges, and perpetuate harmful policies that exclude marginalized groups.
This is not just a matter of capacity.
The Region of Waterloo has demonstrated time and again that it either cannot or will not address this issue with the urgency, empathy, and equity it requires. This delay, combined with the exclusionary policies, leaves our most marginalized neighbors in life-threatening conditions.
FightBack! KW is calling on the Region of Waterloo to urgently increase the number of emergency shelter spaces, ensure equal access for all individuals, and develop a comprehensive, coordinated plan to address homelessness throughout the winter months and beyond.
Acer Bonaparte, FightBack! KW
Kitchener
