Cedar Place is celebrating its one-year anniversary since opening its doors last October. With much anticipation and community support, the Salvation Army’s women and family homeless shelter opened the doors to its new house, to better serve the needs of a growing homeless population in Sudbury.

The shelter has been open since January 2007, providing support through local hotels. However, the need for a house was very great, a press release stated. The shelter, which is now located on 261 Cedar St. in Sudbury was renamed Cedar Place Cèdre and has been accepting homeless women and families since November 2011.

Cedar Place has 20 beds which are used to accommodate single women and those with children. The hotel accommodations (which is run by Cedar Place) is still being used to house large families, as well as those with boys ages seven and over, and couples.

Last month, Cedar Place had a client count of up to 70 people per day. In fact, the facility was full on a number of occasions, requiring the use of cots to meet the surplus. The average stay for a woman or family was for 30 or more days.

“We did not imagine the need would be so great when we opened Cedar Place," the press release stated. "The home has fulfilled a need for a safe place for people who find themselves in crisis. We count it a privilege to serve the homeless population in Sudbury, and are working with them to put an end to homelessness.”