Members of the YWCA Cambridge conducted outreach during the Waterloo Region’s Point-in-Time (PiT) count to gain a clearer insight into the number of women and gender-diverse individuals experiencing hidden homelessness in the community.
The PiT count is a federally mandated initiative that aims to count the number of people experiencing homelessness in the region while collecting data to help inform policy and allocate funding.
Anyone in the region who does not have access to safe, accessible and permanent housing can participate in the count. This includes individuals couch surfing, living in cars, staying in a short-term rooming house and more.
“It’s not just individuals who would be sleeping outside—the definition of homeless is far broader and takes into account the various ways that people try to stay off the streets,” Rosalind Gunn, director of communications and advocacy at YWCA Cambridge, said.
Individuals who took part in the PiT count could also participate in an anonymous survey, which inquired about topics such as where the individual slept the night before, existing mental health or physical health concerns, the types of services or supports needed, whether they have a partner or dependents with them, if they have stayed at a shelter within the last year and more.
During the last PiT count back in 2021, the Waterloo Region found there were 1085 individuals experiencing homelessness. Of those 1,085, 70 per cent of those individuals experiencing homelessness were identified as men.
“Of the 1,085 people…[412] were living rough (in encampments, on the street, or in their vehicles), while the remaining 673 were experiencing hidden homelessness, in emergency shelters, in transitional housing, or were in institutions,” read the 2021 Region of Waterloo PiT Count Press Release.
Traditionally, the PiT count relies on individuals accessing services, shelters or encampments. As a result, those experiencing hidden homelessness are underrepresented in the data— particularly, women and genderdiverse individuals.
“There’s no good reason to explain why there would be such a disproportionate number of men versus women experiencing homelessness when you consider the drivers of homelessness,” Gunn said.
“We know through our own research in the region…that women will often forgo basic services just to keep hidden,” she said.
As a result, Gunn said that outreach was done in advance of the count to ensure that people who do not frequent services and supports can still be accounted for.
“What we were doing in our work, in trying to locate women, was going into bushes that are near the areas we know that women are going to for things like access to showers or food,” she said.
In addition, Gunn said the YWCA Cambridge reached out to organizations, such as the Coalition of Muslim Women, that otherwise would not be connected to the PiT count.
While data from this year’s PiT count is yet to be released by the region, Gunn could confirm that the data from their own count showed a higher representation of women and gender-diverse individuals experiencing hidden homelessness.
As a result, Gunn is hopeful that more accurate information can help guide the next steps and services in the community. YWCA Cambridge conducted outreach to assess homelessness in the city.
“We know in the region there are currently no shelter beds dedicated solely to women. This is part and parcel of the problem because they’re not visible and people think they don’t exist,” Gunn said.
“We’re hoping that we’ll have data that more accurately depicts the landscape of homelessness in the region. We’re really hoping that it shows more accurately the proportion of individuals experiencing homelessness that are women,” she said.
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