This expectant mom's living in an outdoor shelter as YWCA Hamilton waits on federal funds to build housing

CBC

18 hours ago

Four months into her pregnancy, Megan Ryan's bump is just visible — a constant reminder of what she's hoping for by the time she gives birth in November: Housing.
The 34-year-old lives in Hamilton's outdoor shelter, which is designed for adults and pets only. Before that, she lived in a tent near Hamilton's rail trail for over a year, including last winter. She's afraid if she doesn't find a more permanent place to live, her newborn will be put into foster care.
"That's what I'm terrified of," said Ryan. "And I don't know how I'll deal with that. I really don't."
CBC Hamilton spoke with Ryan at a park near the outdoor shelter on Wednesday.
She spoke openly about her life: her parents' struggles with alcoholism and how she began drinking at age 13, her first pregnancy at 16 and leaving home to live in a shelter while going to high school, experiences with mental illness and intimate partner violence, and having four more children and trying to keep them housed — renting mostly, but also couch surfing and living in hotel rooms and family shelters.
In 2021, Ryan, her children and partner at the time were renting a home when he left, and she struggled to pay all the expenses on her own.
"It came down to paying the bills or buying groceries, so I stopped paying the bills," she said.
Limited services in Hamilton
Ryan was evicted in December 2022 and her five kids went to live with other people — a gut-wrenching decision she and they have struggled with since, she said.
"Two years, that's a long time," Ryan said. "I want my kids back. I've been trying."
But in Hamilton, there are few housing options specifically for unhoused pregnant people and their children to live together until they can find permanent housing.
The YWCA Hamilton has three beds at its transitional living program for women and non-binary individuals needing emergency reproductive care, but the site can't accommodate partners, pets or children.
That means a person who's given birth can't return with the baby.
"That's one of the leading issues at the end of pregnancy, with the person we're supporting asking where are they going next?" said Chelsea Kirkby, the YWCA's vice president of strategic initiatives and program development.
That's where the Oakwood Project comes in, said CEO Medora Uppal.
On Barton Street East, the proposed building would include 90 housing units for women, children and gender-diverse people who have experienced homelessness or violence. Some of the spots will be for women before and after their pregnancies, whether or not they bring a baby home or have other children in their care.
Since August 2022, 126 pregnant, unhoused women — or social service providers on their behalf — have reached out to the YWCA for help, said Mary Vaccaro, a program co-ordinator.
"A lot of the time it's invisible homelessness — they're staying at a sister's house that's untenable, unsafe and they're trying to get out of it," Vaccaro said as an example.
When Uppal began envisioning the project in 2021, she said, she thought the process would be faster given the need.
The YWCA found the land that December and bought it with a loan from the Hamilton Community Foundation, Uppal said. It also received $6.75 million from the city to pay for demolition, which took place this week. It's now waiting to hear back from the federal government if it will receive $34 million in funding to build.
The City of Hamilton has committed $6.75 million in capital contributions to the YWCA's Oakwood Place project at 1067 Barton Street East, as part of the Affordable Housing Development Project Stream (the Project Stream) and Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).
Pre-development funding will cover early-stage activities such as demolition and site remediation. Construction funding will be released in phases to ensure the project's completion and occupancy.
"We're really hopeful, but the news can't come quickly enough," Uppal said. "This is a long time coming and we are behind as a community, as a country, in building affordable housing."
'See that would be cool'
Once the Oakwood Project is open, the YWCA will have more flexibility in helping people at any point of their reproductive or parenting journeys, said Kirkby. Along with housing, the site will offer other supports like medical care, child care, skills training, and employment and immigration services.
"It's going to be really unique and something that's not offered in the city currently," said Kirkby.
If the YWCA receives federal funding soon, it aims to start building by the end of the year.
Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation, which decides which affordable, supportive and transitional housing projects receive federal funding, declined to comment on this specific application to protect confidentiality.
As of the end of last year, the federal government's National Housing Strategy has committed about $15 billion to build, repair and support over 300,000 housing units for women and children across Canada.
The Oakwood Project won't be ready for when Ryan gives birth, but she said she likes the idea, not only because it would give her and her newborn a place to live, but her other children, too.
"See, that would be cool," she said. "That's what I would love to do."
Instead, she will stay in the outdoor shelter for the time being. With the help of staff there, she's applying for more permanent housing, and while it may not be tailored exactly to her and her family's needs, she feels optimistic.