Former women’s shelter to replace temporary shelter at old Schwaben Club in Kitchener

With an eye on closing the shelter at the former home of the Schwaben Club, Waterloo Region has purchased the YW Kitchener-Waterloo woman’s shelter on Frederick Street in downtown Kitchener.

“To date, our response to the need for more shelter beds has been through opening temporary sites and securing rented space,” said Coun. Jim Erb, chair of community and health services committee.

“Over the last few years, we have opened more than 17 temporary sites. Although this provided a timely and dynamic response, it came with challenges related to financial and system stability and community impact.”

He said the move to a more permanent space will allow the region to shift its focus from looking for space to providing other forms of assistance.

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The building was initially opened by the YWKW in 1914 before becoming a shelter in the 1970s.

Back in March, the YWKW announced it would close the 66-bed shelter at the end of June as the organization was looking to open smaller shelters at other locations, to better allow it to meets its clients needs.

The region will take over the shelter on July 1 but a spokesperson for the region told Global News that plans were still in the works for when the building would return to use or what the capacity will be.

“With today’s approval of the purchase of 84 Frederick, we will begin planning for the transition from the King Street Emergency Shelter site,” stated Peter Sweeney, commissioner of community services.

The King Street Emergency Shelter, which is located at the former home of the Schwaben Club on King Street, was never meant to be a permanent shelter.

It opened in 2022 as a temporary replacement for a shelter that had been opened at the old Edith Macintosh Childcare Centre.

In a release, the region said chronic homelessness continues to be a problem as the number of homeless people in the area has more than doubled over the past four years.