Police have ended a standoff with anti-poverty protesters in the downtown area, arresting two people in the process.

At about 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, they stormed into an abandoned house the activists had taken over in the Bloor-Sherbourne area.

The confrontation started earlier in the day.

About 150 members of the Women Against Poverty Collective (WPAC) had taken to the streets earlier in the day to take part in an anti-poverty demonstration.

Saying their demands for safe, affordable housing for women have been ignored for too long, members of the group entered the abandoned house at 4 Howard St.

Once inside the home, the women hung a banner and pitched tents on the property, saying they will keep the building and provide their own affordable housing for women and their children.

"We are children of survivors, we are survivors, we are friends of survivors of violence and poverty," one protester shouted through a megaphone from a window. "For too long we've had to witness our mothers, our sisters, our friends live through violence."

The group says this action is necessary because the provincial and federal governments haven't followed through on promises for housing and childcare.

"This is necessary because those who are trying to leave violence are stuck in shelters for months instead of the few weeks they should be there with their kids," said protest organizer Anna Willats.

"They can't find a place to live that they can afford. They are forced to live in neighbourhoods that are overcrowded, ... unsafe. They are constantly moving around trying to find a place for themselves and their kids that they can live in dignity and safety."

Police told CTV's Desmond Brown earlier that they would try to negotiate an end to the occupation before trying other tactics.

With a report from CTV's Desmond Brown and files from CTV's Andria Case