Tanner Residence, a Safe, Affordable Home for Single Women

LeNay Harper
Director of Housing and Shelter Services

No matter how you think about it, the one thing no one ever wants to be is homeless.

Without a roof (permanent or temporary) over your head, without a bed to sleep in, and without a  place you can come to at the end of your day, lock your door, and feel safe, the world can be a scary place in which to live. Not all, but many of the residents at the YWCA Cambridge’s Tanner Residence have experienced long term homelessness. They have known that feeling of being invisible - where no one wants to acknowledge, speak to, or even provide you with any assistance. Tanner Residence is a respite from that sense of not belonging. A place of welcome for all.

YWCA Cambridge offers 103 units of Single Room Occupancy (SRO) housing at the Tanner Residence with a number of different payment options. Some of our rooms are private pay, market rate; others are set aside for specific service providers, and yet other rooms are available through Cambridge Housing Authority’s Mobile Resource Voucher Program (MRVP) or Section 8 vouchers. Regardless of how women arrive at Tanner Residence or what payment arrangement meets their individual needs, each has her own room with access to shared bathroom, kitchen and laundry facilities, and to a large ground floor community room as well as to smaller community rooms located throughout the building.

YWCA Cambridge’s Director of Housing & Shelter Services provides supportive services to our residents through assistance identifying and engaging community resources and referrals, advocacy, housing searches, crisis intervention and much more. She also coordinates educational and informational workshops and meetings, wellness activities and social events. Tanner Residence is a non-smoking, elevator accessible building with 24-hour staffing. A beautifully landscaped outdoor area is available for the residents to enjoy, weather permitting.

Agency and service provider representatives are invited to share information and resources with our residents and to offer assistance in areas such as job preparedness, life skills training, credit repair and other services in Cambridge and the surrounding area..

Whether our residents wish to continue living at YWCA Cambridge’s Tanner Residence or move into accommodations elsewhere, our goal is to help provide the necessary tools that will enable them to live long-term in safe, affordable housing, while using their voices to advocate successfully for themselves.