End of Year Giving
Hidden No More Shining a light on women's homelessness
At YWCA Cambridge, we are driven by a simple principle: We see a need; we work to fill it. In 1948, it was young, single women coming to the city to get work in the textile industry, needing safe lodging. Today, it is the largely unseen, but exponentially growing crisis of women experiencing homelessness in our community.
Last year, with your help, we opened the YWCA Cambridge Temporary Women’s Emergency Homeless Shelter, the first and only 24/7 shelter for women experiencing homelessness in Cambridge.
The face of homelessness here in Cambridge isn’t always visible, especially with so few services dedicated to women. It is the woman couch-surfing with friends or friends of friends to escape the ever-present, unpredictable violence that accompanies sleeping outside, or a young person sleeping in their car, unable to afford market rent, even if they’re working full-time.
Hidden homeless no more.
This year, let’s fuel sustainability and security for women in our community. This funding is the bedrock of our mission to move individuals from hidden to housed.
Here's the truth
Women’s homelessness is inextricably linked with gender-based violence. There’s the violence that pushes a woman into homelessness, and the violence that accompanies homelessness. This worsening crisis demands an all-hands-on-deck response, a commitment to ensuring every woman, girl, and gender-diverse individual has a permanent foundation.
When a woman walks through our doors, she’s met with warmth, safety, and care.
You can’t heal without a safe space, and healing happens here.
- $75 provides a full bedding and personal care kit for one resident.
- $150 helps fuel essential frontline support, enabling staff to guide the transition into shelter and providing wrap-around supports.
- $500 directly supports our sustainability fund, ensuring we can grow for all women who need us.
Women's Emergency Homeless Shelter
You’re not just providing shelter. You’re creating stability, connection and healing.
“I was so used to being told there was no space for me. When I got here, it was the first time someone said, ‘You can stay as long as you need.’ I finally felt human again.”
— Shelter Resident, 2025
When a woman arrives at the YWCA emergency shelter, maybe she just needs somewhere inside to sleep, safe from the elements and from violence. What she gets from our incredible staff is so much more – it’s warmth, safety and wraparound supports. Our 24/7 Temporary Emergency Shelter gives women more than a bed; it gives them space to breathe, safety to rest, and a pathway to rebuild.
Matching Partners Welcome
Are you part of a service club, business, or community group looking to make an impact together?
We are actively seeking generous donors to commit $10,000 for a matching gift challenge.
To coordinate your group’s participation, please contact Nataleigh Ballantyne (n.ballantyne@ywcacambridge.ca)
Every Day Moments of Connection
Making Meaning
Art, Healing and Expression
For women experiencing homelessness, each day can feel uncertain and overwhelming. At YWCA Cambridge’ Women’s Emergency Homeless Shelter, we strive to create spaces where even small moments, sharing a cup of coffee, fitting pieces of a puzzle, or painting together, can bring comfort, connection, and meaning. These moments remind us that no one has to navigate hardship alone, and that resilience grows in the shared experiences of community.