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Info Page: 150 Main Street, Cambridge -
​EnCampment & Closure

(In Build -  Additional content yet to be added, edits remain needed. Please feel free to reach out with any additional information links/related content or to let me know of any errors!)

In August 2022, an encampment formed on regional land at the 150 Main street building in Cambridge. This encampment consisting of otherwise unhoused residents occupied a row of parking spaces at the edge of the regional buildings parking lot and the minimal space next to the lots pavement line abutting the neighbouring property. It began when the neighbouring private property lot was evicted and some of the residents from there relocated themselves to this neighbouring space. This location is adjacent to many of the Cambridge community's services enabling easier direct contact for these residents to the supports they required to sustain themselves.

Throughout the course of its use by local unhoused residents, security and portable toilets were added. As well a fence was constructed surrounding the living area and barriers were added at the nearby vehicle entrance, both implemented seeking to aid in assuring resident safety and welcomed by the sites residents. 

In August of 2023 the location was closed by the Region of Waterloo. 
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For more information or to arrange a donation please email Jaime.Stief@gmail.com
Connecting with our Municipalities and Local Democracy

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September 6, 2023
As Sent & REleased as statement
By The Unsheltered Campaign:


​View Letter at Source 
(Text Copied Below)


From: The Unsheltered Campaign
To: Region of Waterloo Council & Regional Housing Services Staff

RE: Closure of Encampment at 150 Main St. in Cambridge
RE: Ending of Motel Shelter Program

We are writing to express our dismay about two recent actions: the involuntary closure of the encampment at 150 Main St. in Cambridge, and the ending of the motel shelter program. Based on our current understanding of these actions, we find that they raise human rights concerns and will cause harm to our unsheltered neighbours.
Continue Reading...
While the closure of the 150 Main St. encampment is being presented as voluntary, we are aware that residents felt pressured to leave, and that some previous residents of 150 Main continue to live unsheltered. This speaks to the absence of accessible and adequate shelter options for people experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region. Justice Valente’s January 2023 court ruling concerning 100 Victoria St. noted this absence as a key reason why evicting residents sheltering on public lands violated their S.7 Charter rights.

The closure of 150 Main was an action contrary to the spirit of the 100 Victoria court ruling and a human rights approach to housing, due to both the pressures exerted upon residents to leave without having secure adequate alternative shelter as well as the prohibition on any future sheltering of people experiencing homelessness on these public lands.

The closure of 150 Main comes at the same time that the Region of Waterloo is discontinuing its funding of 50 motel shelter spaces for residents experiencing homelessness. Motel spaces are not permanent, adequate housing. However, we echo the concerns of other community advocates: discontinuing the funding of the motel shelter spaces before accessible and adequate housing options have been secured for residents will directly lead to more people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and exacerbate pressures on encampment sites.

As we have done in the past, we once again call on the Region of Waterloo Council and Regional staff to adopt practices consistent with a human rights approach to homelessness and housing, including:
  • Recognize a right to shelter on regional lands;
  • Stop evicting and criminalizing encampment communities;
  • End neo-vagrancy by-laws;
  • Provide ample access to public restrooms and other amenities outside of a few central locations in the region;
  • Eliminate hostile architecture that forces people to not use public amenities (like park benches);
  • Reallocate funds from downstream programs to upstream services such as transitional housing for unsheltered and hidden homeless.

(Letter continues below tweet) 

"Peter Sweeney, commissioner of community services, confirmed that the region met with members of the Unsheltered Campaign Thursday afternoon.

Sweeney called working with community and grassroots organizations vital to ending chronic homelessness in Waterloo region."

— Regan Sunshine Brusse (@ReganBrusse) September 8, 2023

As immediate next steps, Unsheltered Campaign requests the following from the Region:
  • Provide transparent information to Unsheltered Campaign and service organizations in Cambridge about how the encampment was closed, and what services and supports people were offered leading up to the closure - both the process over the last few months, and in the days leading up to the closure.
  • Clarify how the closure of 150 Main meets the requirements set out by the court ruling that encampments cannot be evicted without assuring the quantity and nature of the shelter options available - Kevin Boutilier's comments in this news article raise serious concerns on this matter.
  • Provide Unsheltered Campaign with transparent information about next steps for residents who have been staying in motels. We request information that does not reveal individual identities, but provides adequate information that includes the number of people who were sheltering in motels prior to defunding, and their trajectories.

Sincerely,
Unsheltered Campaign

Last night we released a public letter to @RegionWaterloo Council and Housing Services Staff regarding the closure of the 150 Main St. Cambridge encampment, and the ending of the motel shelter program. The letter can be found at https://t.co/sr0lHsEGXZ and reads as below:

— unsheltered.campaign (@UnshelteredC) September 7, 2023


​
Related Information


Municipal Information
Region of Waterloo:
Regional Meetings - Housing related info Highlighted - January - August 2023
(Working on this area still... please check back again later for more links!)
January 2023
​January 
  • Community and Health Services Committee, January 10, 2023
    • ​Report: Interim Housing Solutions Implementation Update
  • Regional Council Meeting, January 25, 2023
    • 19. Other Business From the Minutes: “In response to a question from Council, Peter Sweeney, Commissioner, Community Services stated that the sanctioned encampment will unfortunately not be able to open in February as hoped and that staff are now targeting mid to late March. He noted that there will be a meeting held on January 26, 2023 for community members to ask questions about the site.”
February 2023
February
  • Regional Municipality of Waterloo Community and Health Services Committee, 
  • ​Regional Council Meeting, February 22, 2023 - 
    • Delegate:  7.3 Nabil Kohistani - "N. Kohistani provided a presentation on the homeless crisis in Waterloo Region. A copy of the presentation is appended to the original minutes. He encouraged the Region to look at changing the housing market through inclusionary zoning and creating more programs similar to the YW-Blockline site." 
      • Presentation Slides
March 2023
March
  • ​Regional Council Meeting, 
  • Community and Health Services Committee
April 2023
April
  •  Community and Health Services Committee - April 4, 2023
    • ​Meeting Minutes
      • 7.2.1 Report: CSD-HOU-23-011, Plan to End Chronic Homelessness Update
  • Regional Council Meeting, April 19, 2023
    • Delegations:
      • ​"8.2 Janice Jim, Organizer, Ground Up WR
        • J. Jim, Organizer, Ground Up WR expressed her concerns with the lack of transparency regarding the KPMG staffing report for Waterloo Region Police Services (WRPS). She  highlighted that the full report was not publicly available until a month after the budget was approved and the summary did not disclose that a surplus was available for staffing. She asked for Council to reconsider the WRPS budget in light of the report. A copy of her written remarks are attached to the original minutes. (could not find them)
      • 8.3 Kevin White, Kitchener
        • K. White appeared before Council to express his concerns with the KPMG report that was prepared for the WRPS and only made available to the public recently. He noted that the report recommended using budget surpluses to cover staffing costs. K. White further objected to an indication in the report that an increase in the diversity of the population equates to an increase in crime. He encouraged the Region to revisit the approval of the police budget. "
May 2023
May 
  • Community and Health Services Committee, Tuesday, May 09, 2023
    • ​6.1 Amy Slack & Debra Spurrell, Cambridge Food Bank re: Region of Waterloo Peer Program, specifically the successes and importance this program has in our community and supporting equity-seeking groups
  • ​Report: CSD-HOU-23-012 to Regional Council , "Update on the Three High Risk Encampments in Waterloo Region", May 24, 2023
June 2023
​June 2023
  • ​Regional Council Meeting, June 21, 2023
July 2023
August 2023

​October 2022
  • Council accepts report from Anti-Racism Advisory Working Group - October 2022 Row Media release about recommendations made by group) 
    • The full list of recommendations can be found in the report located here. These included:
      • “Stop evicting people from encampments before allocating Regional land or permanent accommodation, 
      • Ensure that any response to encampment issues, including security be a civilian led response which includes trained mental health and addiction workers
      • ​​Provide additional funding to grassroots organizations and outreach groups working with encampments to ensure basic human needs are met,”

December 2021
  • ​Draft Encampment Policy & Staff Report (Re: Charles and Stirling Eviction)- (Page 104-116 as seen embeded below) - Region of Waterloo - Council Addendum Agenda - December 15, 2021 (Includes as well Regional Bylaw 13-050)
Municipal Planning (Housing and Homelessness)
Interim Housing Solutions
​Interim Housing Solutions

​Engage Waterloo Region: Interim Housing Solutions: 

​From the above link:
​
"Interim Housing Solutions Strategy

We are moving forward with an Interim Housing Solutions strategy to address this challenging situation, using four key tools:
  • Expanding the Transitional Housing Program;
  • Expanding the Home-Based Support Program;
  • Expanding the Emergency Shelter Program; and
  • Permitting a temporary managed Hybrid Shelter/Outdoor Model.
In addition, we will create a Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, which will guide the Region’s work to prevent and end homelessness." 
​

You can find out more, offer input, or sign up for progress updates at engageWR.ca
​
​
Strategic Plan
Strategic Plan

​​
  • Strategic Plan - Region of Waterloo​
    • Strategic Plan 2023-2027 report (Dec. 6, 2022)
    • Setting the Context: Regional Strategy Refresh (Oct. 4, 2022)
    • EngageWR - Strategic Plan 
  • Waterloo Region Community Profile ​
​​

The Region of Waterloo has approved a new strategic plan with input from thousands of community members to guide the Region as it prepares to grow to one million people in the coming decades. Read more: https://t.co/TLUIsH8lhe pic.twitter.com/TfGrAKW3Py

— Region of Waterloo (@RegionWaterloo) August 31, 2023
  
Plan to end chronic homelessness
More on The Plan to end chronic homelessness

  •   ...

 

A press release to all municipal councils in Ontario -

"The Charter dictates that unless and until encampment residents are provided with truly accessible accommodation, evictions should not occur." https://t.co/v1y2aEfYud

— Waterloo Region Community Legal Services (@WRLegalServices) August 17, 2023


​Other Related Information Links:
Service & support providers located at the 150 Main Street Region of Waterloo building in Cambridge & direct surrounding downtown Galt area:
  • ACCKWA
    • Multi-Agency Community Space (MACS)  
      • "This drop-in service hub is the only full time collaboration supporting homeless unsheltered individuals in Cambridge who are unable to access the limited local shelter space."
      • "​Partner agencies include ACCKWA in the lead role, Cambridge Food Bank, and Langs Community Health Centre as key partners, and Lutherwood, Housing Services, Stonehenge Therapeutic Community, Canadian Mental Health Association, Sanguen Health Centre’s health care bus, and the Region of Waterloo providing rent-free space."
  • Ontario Works - Region of Waterloo
  • Welcome Space - Community Housing Access Centre - Region of Waterloo  
  • 519 Community Collective (Ainslie Street by bus terminal)
  • Cambridge Food Bank (Ainslie Street by bus terminal)

Please Note: List above is still currently in build/draft - Please feel free to let me know if I've missed adding or am mistaken in any information.
More about the 100 Victoria St. Encampment Ruling

For the first time, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the Region of Waterloo's attempt to evict encampment residents was a violation of the Charter of Rights & Freedoms.

What does this mean for human rights across Canada? □

✅Find out: https://t.co/NitJbsPUX2 pic.twitter.com/4VXjUFwCFj

— National Right to Housing Network (@R2HNetwork) August 8, 2023
​​
  • A Summary of the Region of Waterloo's Encampment Decision - By Tod Duncan, May 2023 - Ontario Municipal Social Services Association (OMSSA)​​

"Policy outcomes that address the complexity of homelessness, particularly encampments might consider an approach which frames housing as a human right, rather than a problem unique to the person experiencing it."https://t.co/Ow34TP6W8k

— Regan Sunshine Brusse (@ReganBrusse) September 4, 2023

Media Coverage

Town of Cobourg has committed to obey the Waterloo Superior Court decision. Northumberland County evidently has not. @NCLC_Legal https://t.co/T9osMIrxMJ via @north_news

— Community Legal Clinic York Region -Jeff Schlemmer (@LegalClinicYR) September 6, 2023
  • ​​
  • Sept 1, 2023 Concerns over outreach arise after Cambridge encampment cleared out - CBC News
  • August 30, 2023 New open shelter concept won't be coming to Cambridge until at least 2024 - Cambridge Today
  • August 28, 2023 Region removes encampment at 150 Main in Cambridge - City News Kitchener  
  • August 24, 2023 - Time to build a new facility in Cambridge for the most vulnerable - Cambridge Times - Letter to the Editor
  • August 22, 2023 - Downtown Kitchener encampment growing, COVID housing program slated to end this month - CTV News
  • August 16, 2023 - Cambridge encampment not what it seems, says former resident - Cambridge Today
  • Aug 8, 2023 Some unsheltered forced to move as condo project gets underway - Cambridge Today
  • August 4, 2023 - Unsheltered residents camped on private property on Kerr Street in Cambridge forced to leave by owner - The Record News
  • July 28, 2023 Region of Waterloo barricades 150 Main St. encampment at night - The Record News
View More Media Publications on this topic

The region says all residents were offered housing options. But as Jeff Pickel explains, some are already back out on the street. https://t.co/8JKVVaj44Z

— CTV Kitchener (@CTVKitchener) August 28, 2023
  • September 16, 2022 Situation at 55 Kerr St. remains a concern for city, region  -Cambridge Today
  • September 21, 2022 Region sticks to support-based approach as encampment spills onto 150 Main -Cambridge Today
  • ​Sep 27, 2022 Region focused on long and short term solutions to homelessness crisis -Cambridge Today
  • Sept 29. 2022 Region installs temporary fencing at 150 Main St. encampment - City News Kitchener
  • October 13, 2022 Survey of homeless reveals options for sanctioned encampment -Cambridge Today​

  • ​October 13, 2022 47% of people living in tent cities would move to new regionally managed site: survey - CBC News
  • November 4, 2022 Region still looking at designated spaces for encampments - City News Kitchener
  • October 13, 2022 47% of people living in tent cities would move to new regionally managed site: survey - CBC News
  • November 4, 2022 Region still looking at designated spaces for encampments - City News Kitchener
  • Feb 1, 2023 Waterloo region remains liable for dangers posed by encampments - Cambridge Today
  • February 22, 2023 Tightly regulated public meeting held to get input on Cambridge consumption and treatment site - CBC News​​

“I don’t understand where they want them to go?” ... “If they move them, they don’t disappear. I just don’t understand where they want them to go – it’s not like, ‘oh, I can’t sleep outdoors, OK, I guess I’ll go home (as in there’s no home to go to.)’” https://t.co/dvbyPwMlOE

— Regan Sunshine Brusse (@ReganBrusse) September 11, 2023
  • ​​March 18, 2023 Cambridge man facing arson charges after tent fire- The Record News
  • March 30, 2023 Region says money spent to secure encampments necessary to keep people safe - Cambridge Today
  • May 3, 2023 Hybrid shelter open, encampments remain with some unwilling to move - CTV News​
  • May 23, 2023 Regional Council to hear update on local high-risk encampments - City News Kitchener
  • ​May 24, 2023 Region's hybrid shelter home to 11 who left Cambridge encampments - Cambridge Today​
  • ​May 24, 2023 Just over half of people living at 3 'high risk' encampments in Kitchener, Cambridge have moved -CBC News
  • May 29, 2023 Tents go up in flames at Cambridge encampment - CTV News​
  • May 28, 2023 Three tents burn, no one hurt after possible explosion and fire at a Cambridge homeless encampment Sunday - The Record News​​
  • ​June 7, 2023 Council votes down motion on homelessness as residents express frustration -Cambridge Today
  • June 11, 2023 Cambridge mayor to host community safety town hall - Cambridge Today​
  • July 11, 2023 Region of Waterloo expands cooling centre access - City News Kitchener
  • July 14, 2023 Emotions run high at city town hall on safety concerns - Cambridge Today
  • July 14, 2023 Cambridge residents share safety concerns at community town hall, second town hall set for Sept. 18 - City News Kitchener 
  • July 14, 2023 ‘It’s like I’m being pushed out by the residents around the city,’ encampment resident says- The Record News
  • July 26, 2023 ‘Someone Lives Here’ free screening highlights plight of homelessness -Cambridge Today


More Pages "Around Here:

  • ​100 Victoria - Court Verdict & Information Links​
  • Regional Council discusses the recent encampment displacement - Update - 29/11/21​ (Charles & Stirling)
  • Housing: A Human Right
  • ​The Criminalization of Homelessness​​
  • Living Rough - Encampments​
  • Connecting with our WR Municipalities and Local Democracy
  • ​June 26, 2023 City of Kitchener Council Meeting
  • Info on Point In Time Counts
  • ​Unsheltered Campaign: Letters and Recent Engagements (2021-2022)

Because there must always be music...



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