Update (12/1/23): Coming off a cold snap, Allegheny County officials said they will open an emergency shelter if the temperature this season drops below 26 degrees. The shelter has been identified as the City of Pittsburgh’s Ammon Recreation Center in the Bedford Dwellings section of the Hill District.
The county’s Department of Human Services [ACDHS] announced on Nov. 30 that it has worked with the City of Pittsburgh and enacted a “Code Blue Action Plan” when temperatures drop below 26 between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. The announcement came a day after the county’s Homeless Advisory Board recommended to ACDHS Director Erin Dalton and Chief Operating and Administrative Officer Lisa Frank that a threshold of 32 degrees be set and asked that they find more beds for the area’s overtaxed shelter system.
Dalton previously declined to define the severe weather conditions that would spur the county to open an emergency facility.
This is the first winter season in decades that the county declined to open the longtime Emergency Winter Shelter at the Smithfield United Church of Christ, Downtown.
This week, temperatures dropped to 19 degrees on Wednesday, according to NWS, and 21 degrees on Tuesday. Meanwhile, most shelters in the area reported at-capacity, according to the county’s Administrator of Homeless Services Andy Halfhill. But with no code blue in place, no extra measures were taken.
ACDHS now recommends people in need of shelter during code blue events first go to Second Avenue Commons, where 40 beds are provided in an overflow area. When those spaces fill the county will transport people to the Ammon Rec Center.
Reported 11/15/23:
Winter shelter beds open tonight, but severe weather plan details still scant
The winter overflow shelter at Second Avenue Commons opens this evening, providing 40 beds to unhoused adults, according to the Allegheny County Department of Human Services [ACDHS].
The temporary overflow space will operate daily from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. until March 15, 2024. Admission is first-come, first-serve and each guest will receive a mat, blanket, hot dinner and breakfast, and a locker to store their belongings, according to Pittsburgh Mercy, which operates the shelter.
The county had closed the overflow shelter at Second Avenue Commons in September, but is bringing it back as part of a “severe weather action plan.”
ACDHS Director Erin Dalton told reporters the county was “really working hard on the shelter capacity” and that it would work with street outreach teams and law enforcement to “make sure people who are really staying outside know where to go for assistance.”
The county is partnering with the City of Pittsburgh to secure an additional emergency overflow facility in a location it would not disclose. It will open the facility if there is a utility problem at an existing shelter — such as a burst pipe or lack of heating — or if the countywide shelter system reaches capacity during extreme weather.
Olga George, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s press secretary, declined to comment because the city is still “working out some details” in the severe weather plan.
In the event of an emergency, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership will shuttle unhoused people who arrive at Second Avenue Commons to the emergency facility.
“We will get Port Authority buses to help run people to that place” if necessary, Dalton told PublicSource after a press conference this morning. “We will make sure people get there.”
The county wants unhoused people to show up at Second Avenue Commons first so that it can fill overflow beds in the system before transporting people to the emergency space, according to ACDHS spokesperson Mark Bertolet.
Dalton said the county will directly operate the emergency facility, but won’t hire additional full-time staff to do so. She said the county isn’t planning for emergency situations to be “so common as to need a full-time staff.”
Dalton also could not define the severe weather conditions that would spur the county to open the emergency facility. She said ACDHS will “take our cues” from city and county emergency services, which set up a command center during extreme weather events.
“It’s tricky, right?” she said of setting a threshold at which the emergency facility would open. “What if the low was 33, but there [was] two feet of snow on the ground?”
In a press release issued last week, the county touted a 65% increase in year-round shelter capacity from two years ago, putting the county-wide bed count at 370. Bertolet said in an email that the increase reflects the addition of year-round beds at Second Avenue Commons in Uptown, CommUNITY Place in Homewood, FamilyLinks Downtown Outreach Center and Shelter [DOCS], and McKeesport Low Barrier Shelter. “Two years ago, McKeesport was winter-only, DOCS had fewer beds, and Second Ave and CommUNITY didn’t exist,” he added.
Bertolet confirmed that the county would not be reopening the emergency overflow shelter in the basement of Smithfield United Church of Christ in downtown Pittsburgh, which regularly hosted more than 100 people nightly. This marks the first winter in 25 years that the church will not open as a winter emergency shelter.
The decision not to reopen Smithfield comes at a time when a variety of factors are contributing to housing instability in the county — including a lack of affordable housing, domestic violence, mental illness and substance use and addiction. During the week of Nov. 15, the number of people in emergency shelter programs in Allegheny County was up 84%, and the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness was up 89%, versus the same week two years ago, according to a county dashboard. It now shows 723 people in emergency shelters and 197 known to be unsheltered.
“There’s just nowhere to live,” said Annie Cairns, senior marketing and communications manager at Light of Life Rescue Mission, describing the affordable housing shortage in Pittsburgh. The North Shore-based nonprofit provides about 20 overflow beds, which are at capacity on most nights.
It’s not always addiction or mental illness that brings people to Light of Life’s Voeghtly Street Shelter, she said, adding that other forces such as evictions, domestic violence and the rising cost of food are driving homelessness in the region.
“We recently had an 88-year-old veteran come through our doors, and this is a person that holds four master’s degrees,” she said. “So, it’s very scary.”
Dalton said the county “will never have enough shelter” space unless it works to provide transitional housing and permanent affordable housing for people who are currently in the shelter system. She said ACDHS recently put out a request for proposals to create a supportive housing program for families and individuals experiencing homelessness.
The county has not received additional federal or state funding to address the problem, Dalton said. That’s why it’s “balancing its investments” among temporary shelter and more permanent affordable housing options.
“What should the pie chart look like?” she asked about that process, inviting the public to weigh in.
Shelter locations and contact information can be found at connect.alleghenycounty.us.
Venuri Siriwardane is PublicSource’s health and mental health reporter. She can be reached at venuri@publicsource.org or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @venuris.
Stephanie Strasburg is a photojournalist with PublicSource who can be reached at stephanie@publicsource.org, on Instagram @stephaniestrasburg or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @stephstrasburg.
This reporting has been made possible through the Staunton Farm Mental Health Reporting Fellowship and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation.
