Toronto has missed a December deadline to open a 24-hour drop-in for homeless women. And as city temperatures plunge, anti-poverty activists fear the service may not be available until spring, if ever.

“The city has been talking about this project for two years, but nothing is happening,” said street nurse Jessica Hales. “The urgency of the need is not recognized.”

Homeless and marginally housed women, including sex workers and those with serious substance abuse and mental health problems, are at high risk of physical and sexual abuse, especially at night, after shelters and other services are closed, she said.

Although there are about 600 beds for women in homeless shelters across the city, all of the facilities have curfews, some as early as 9 p.m.

“It’s hard when you are seeing women every day who have been assaulted or who don’t have a place to go,” said Hales, who works for Street Health, a downtown agency that provides medical care to vulnerable residents.

Hales and four other community workers were charged with mischief in November for staging a sit-in at a city housing office to protest the lack of city action on the drop-in. They are scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

In September 2013, Street Health security cameras captured a homeless woman being sexually assaulted by two men in separate pre-dawn attacks while she slept in the agency’s doorway.

“It has now been over a year since that woman was assaulted,” Hales noted. Activists have been urging council to act since January 2013, she added.

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale) is also frustrated, especially since city council voted last June to open one or two 24-hour women’s drop-ins “no later than December.”

“It was my understanding that something would be in place this winter, at least on an interim basis,” said Wong-Tam, who made the council motion.

City staff, however, say there was never any money in the budget for the initiative.

“This is a new service, so (it) requires (city) council to approve an increase to our budget,” said Phillip Abrahams, general manager of the city’s shelter, support and housing division. The city’s proposed 2015 budget will be unveiled on Jan. 20 but is not expected to be approved until mid-March.

Councillor Joe Mihevc, a member of the community development and recreation committee who has been pushing the initiative, fears efforts to keep property tax hikes at or below inflation may scuttle the service indefinitely.

“It may never happen, that’s my worry,” he said Wednesday. As a result, Mihevc is calling on city council to authorize interim funding to open a 24-hour drop-in service for women “immediately” while awaiting 2015 budget approval for a permanent solution.

“I will be making a motion at committee next week for staff to report directly to council at the end of January,” he said.

Speaking to reporters in the wake of this week’s death of two homeless men and the city’s delay in calling a cold weather alert, Mayor John Tory conceded, “there’s a lot to be done in this area.”

“I would hope to be able to focus myself on that, together with my council colleagues, over the coming weeks,” he said.

But when asked about budget pressures, Tory made no promises. “Well, we’ll see what the budget says.”

The most dangerous time for “street-involved” women is at night, when other services are closed, said a staff report on the issue last April. An overnight drop-in “will meet basic safety needs and provide identified essential service needs, including showers, laundry, provision of healthy food and snacks, counselling and referrals,” the report said.

The estimated cost for a new facility would be about $2 million, although extending the hours of an existing service would cost less, according to the report.

In 2014, the city budgeted $16.2 million to fund 575 women-only beds in 11 shelters across the city. A further $47.7 million was budgeted for co-ed, youth and family shelters available to women. The occupancy rate for women’s shelter beds “has consistently been near at or capacity,” the report said.

If the city wants to add a 24-hour women’s drop-in and maintain current service levels, a property tax hike above inflation would be needed, staff warned.

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