People are silhouetted against Second Avenue Commons on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, in Uptown. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
The county’s Department of Human Services is moving away from the Code Blue approach it took on cold days toward a dispersed portfolio of beds and services available every day.
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Allegheny County will reopen the central homeless shelter in Downtown Pittsburgh later this month, less than half a year after a fire led authorities to close Second Avenue Commons, officials announced while outlining winter shelter plans.
The shelter includes 95 beds in group sleeping rooms, 43 single-room-occupancy units, emergency shelter space, an engagement center and a medical clinic. People who were staying there had to be relocated after the June fire and they will begin to move back in on Oct. 28. The engagement center is slated to reopen the next day with operations from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The winter shelter plan will run between Nov. 15 and March 15, involving at least five providers across Pittsburgh working with the county to offer 105 supplemental beds for single adults, according to Allegheny County Department of Human Services Director Erin Dalton.
“Our shelter system this year will consist of 12 facilities and will be able to serve over 600 adults on the coldest days of the year,” Dalton said Monday during a press briefing on the winter plans, noting that there are about 200 people experiencing homelessness and receiving street outreach. According to the department’s data dashboard, another 713 people — including 377 single adults — are using emergency shelters across the county.
By Dec. 11, or earlier if warranted, the county plans to open an additional winter shelter in Perry South through the Northside Partnership Project and Community Family Advocates. In selecting the Perry South location, the county is solidifying a decision made last year to shelve the traditional winter shelter in the Smithfield United Church of Christ, Downtown.
Last year marked the first winter season in decades in which the county declined to open the longtime emergency winter shelter in Downtown. The county will offer a free shuttle to the new shelter in Perry South from Second Avenue Commons.
“Our goal is to ensure that no one has to spend a night out in the cold,” Dalton said, noting that the county will not be using the Code Blue system that was put in place last year. Under that system, emergency shelter opened when temperatures dropped below 26 degrees between the hours of 4 p.m. and 8 a.m.
“I’m so pleased that this year we will not need a Code Blue protocol for people experiencing homelessness because shelter and daytime supports will be open every day, all winter, and not just on the coldest nights of the year,” Dalton said.
Many of the area’s privately run shelters have varying barriers to entry for people with behavioral health difficulties or those who are actively using illegal drugs. Dalton said that there will be fewer barriers to entry to the Perry South shelter, which will be located at the Community Resource Mall on Maple Avenue.
Dalton said that across the shelters, people will have access to medical care, counseling and case management.
Locations opening Nov. 15 include:
- Salvation Army Women’s Overflow Shelter (20 beds)
- Second Avenue Commons Overflow Shelter (40 beds)
- EECM Winter Overflow Shelter (20 beds)
- Light of Life Winter Overflow Shelter (25 beds).
Correction: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect total number of supplemental beds.
Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter and can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.
This article first appeared on PublicSource and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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