Hundreds of people took to the streets of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Saturday for the sixth annual Women's Housing March.

Sandra Czechaczek , who lives in the Downtown Eastside, says the need for better housing, child care and healthcare for women comes as the neighbourhood is being gentrified.

"People don't make a lot of money down here and there's all these slum hotels with cockroaches and broken bathrooms, no showers," she said.

"It's a horrible situation down here and they're making condos and they're like ... they're forgetting about the little people."

Scott Clark, who works for an aboriginal agency that works in the community, believes the solution lies in getting organizations to work together in a more strategic way.

"I think demonstrations raise awareness but you have to have strategy," Clark said. "You have to show changing the system isn’t working — things are getting worse."

Earlier this week, a CBC News investigation revealed shocking conditions at a number of Downtown Eastside rooming houses run by Atira, a company with a stated mission to help "end violence against women."

Downtown Eastside activists say the annual march will continue until conditions improve.