Sudbury shelter for women, children and families forced to turn people away daily

The Salvation Army Cedar Place is a shelter in Greater Sudbury with 28 beds.

Women, children and families who are homeless stay until they find housing. The shelter has been at capacity for the past three years.

Barbara Ridley, the executive director of Salvation Army Cedar Place, says it’s heartbreaking to turn people away from the shelter, especially children. (Alana Everson/CTV News)

"It’s heartbreaking to turn away a woman who is homeless – more so when there is children involved," said executive director Barbara Ridley.

"A family of six comes to my front door and we have to say I am sorry, there is no room."

Officials at Cedar Place said the shelter received a big increase in funding of $300,000 from the city this year to meet the growing need for the services.

"It has allowed us to increase our wages for staff, for one thing, but most importantly it has increased our beds by two," Ridley said.

"We have been able to hire additional staff, increase our time for our maintenance and also our housekeeping. Those are huge increases and we are very grateful."

The housing crisis, newcomers and evictions are increasing the demand for services and the length of time families are staying. Ridley said in 2018 the average stay at Cedar Place was 16 days -- it’s now 74.

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Officials at Cedar Place said that in September, it had to say no 310 times to people seeking a bed at the shelter. In October, it had to say not 123 times.

"I would love to be able to have the opportunity to serve more, obviously," she said.

"We aren’t able to do that because we stretched to the limit where we are right now."