Fence erected around Cambridge encampment

New safety steps at Cambridge homeless encampment Fencing now wraps around several tents set up in a parking lot near a Waterloo region social service building. CTV's Steph Villella reports.

Fencing has been erected around a growing homeless encampment located at 150 Main Street in Cambridge. The fence surrounds several tents which are set up in a parking lot near a Waterloo region social service building.

“The fence is to keep us safer because we’ve had people coming in and harassing us, crashed into it,” said Kitty Havoc, who lives in one of the tents.

Earlier this month, people living at the encampment were set up on the grassy area behind 150 Main Street, a location that is private property.

The owner of the land told those folks they had to leave. Some moved their tents just a few feet onto the pavement which is public property.

Meanwhile in Kitchener, a new emergency shelter is opening at the site of the former Schwaben Club, replacing the shelter at the former Edith MacIntosh Child Care Centre.

The region says the new shelter will operate in phases. The first phase will provide services for up to 70 people from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. The second phase will allow the shelter to operate 24-7 with increased capacity for an 18 to 24 month period.

Officials say there is an estimated 1,000 people experiencing homelessness across Waterloo region. The new emergency shelter is part of the region’s interim housing solution strategy.