D.C. approves winter plan, adding shelter beds amid high shelter occupancy 

A District trash can sits in a snowstorm.

Extreme weather in D.C. poses special risk to people experiencing homelessness. Photo by Yohan Marion // Unsplash

The D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) finalized the city’s winter plan last month as the District heads into hypothermia season with shelters nearly full. 

ICH voted Sept. 10 to approve the city’s winter plan for fiscal year 2025. The plan will be in effect from Nov. 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025 and outlines additional resources and expanded shelter capacities intended to keep people experiencing homelessness safe during hypothermia alerts and cold weather emergencies. As the city does each year, D.C. will increase access to shelters and transportation services. This year, the city also hopes to improve communication about the location and transportation schedules for warming buses and sites. 

The additional shelter beds are especially crucial this year as D.C. is heading into hypothermia season amid continued reports of shelters nearing or reaching capacity. On the night of Oct. 1, for instance, only five beds for men were vacant, and only two for women. Hundreds of people who don’t rely on shelter year-round seek beds each winter to escape the cold, so the city is expected to need an additional 726 overflow beds this winter. 

HCRP Logo 100px
This article is part of our 2024 contribution to the D.C. Homeless Crisis Reporting Project in collaboration with other local newsrooms. The collective works will be published throughout the week at bit.ly/DCHCRP.

An ICH spokesperson said District shelter capacities did not reach their maximum last winter and are not projected to this year because officials monitor capacity, utilization, and community concerns to ensure there are enough beds. 

According to the plan, the District activates hypothermia alerts when the temperature is expected to be 32 degrees or lower, or 40 degrees if there is a 50% chance of precipitation. A “cold weather emergency” applies to all people in D.C. when temperatures reach 15 degrees or below, or 20 degrees when there has been precipitation for an hour, three inches of snow, or other weather “threats,” which the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency determines. When D.C. officials activate a hypothermia alert, they monitor shelter capacity at low-barrier shelters and open overflow shelter beds as needed. 

The ICH Full Council approved the plan on the condition that the team consider changes to the capacity of family homeless shelters, implementing a “threshold criteria” for when the city might have to make more family units available, and update the document as providers determine whether they will deliver supplies and services during a hypothermia alert. ICH will also update the plan with transportation schedules to and from shelters and integrate ways to address respiratory issues once D.C. Health officials adopt a plan for the upcoming year.

Where to seek shelter 

To measure shelter needs, ICH’s Shelter Capacity Workgroup collected data on shelter occupancy for men and women last winter. According to the data, depending on whether a hypothermia alert was in effect, between 1,009 and 1,020 men slept in shelter beds on average, and between 423 and 437 women slept in shelters. 

With this information, ICH forecasted the District will need 1,635 beds in November — 1,210 for men and 425 for women — 1,678 in December — 1,248 for men and 430 for women — 1,778 in January — 1,288 for men and 490 for women — 1,735 in February — 1,279 for men and 456 for women — and 1,751 in March — 1,284 for men and 467 for women. 

The winter plan calls for D.C. to make the 1,635 beds available in November and to add 143 beds by January, the height of the season.  

An ICH spokesperson said the 2025 plan will mark the second year the majority of overflow beds are located in buildings that can function as year-round shelters. Previously, Department of Parks and Recreation centers served as the primary overflow sites and did not offer beds year-round. 

“This is a seismic shift in the system, and we are grateful to our partners at DHS and DGS for stewarding this significant pivot,” the spokesperson said in an email. 

ICH will activate the overflow shelters — which typically operate from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. — when there are 20 combined low-barrier and overflow beds available for men and 10 for women, a threshold the city is currently meeting most nights. Once an overflow shelter is opened, the plan states D.C. will make “every effort” to keep the space open through the season.  

Eight locations will offer a total of 563 overflow beds for men — 801 East Shelter, Emery, the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), the CCNV drop-in center, Mt. Moriah, Penn Ave Baptist SE, KBEC Family Life, and Church of the Epiphany. Year-round shelters at 801, Emery, New York Avenue, Adams Place, and Living Life Alternatives will remain open. 

Three shelters will offer 163 overflow beds for women — Eve’s Place at Adam’s Place Day Center, CCNV, and Pat Handy Swing Space. Harriet Tubman, Patricia Handy, Saint Josephine Bakhita, and Living Life Alternatives will continue to offer year-round beds. 

At an ICH meeting on June 26, one member said D.C. typically offers fewer beds for women than needed because the Point in Time Count, which measures how many people sleep in shelters on a given night, does not reflect the fact many women don’t feel comfortable spending the whole night at the shelter.  

It’s unclear if the city’s newest shelter, the Aston, will open in time for hypothermia season. A May plan said the Aston, located at 1129 New Hampshire Ave. in Northwest D.C, would open in August and start at a capacity of 50 people. Now, however, officials have delayed the opening indefinitely after the building failed an inspection. This marks the fifth time the District has delayed opening the shelter since 2023. The shelter will be D.C.’s first non-congregate shelter, a type of shelter that offers private spaces for individuals, couples, and families. 

By Nov. 1, ICH said the city will update the list of warming sites for the general population, which are activated during cold weather emergencies and consist of public buildings like libraries, recreation centers, and senior wellness centers. The updated list will be available at https://snow.dc.gov/. 

Feedback from last year’s plan 

ICH’s Emergency Response and Shelter Operations (ERSO) committee reviewed feedback from partners on last year’s winter plan, which included requests D.C. provide more consistent information on shelters with extended operating hours during weather emergencies, give notifications for hypothermia alerts, and increase access to hot meals. The partners — District agencies and shelter capacity, family system, and youth forums — also shared concerns about reports of people experiencing homelessness struggling to enter shelters late at night, and requested improved customer service for the shelter hotline. 

They requested ICH provide “clarity” on the availability and accessibility of warming buses and the transportation schedule. In last year’s plan, ICH said the city may place warming buses near encampments if the temperature is forecasted to be 15 degrees or below. 

To improve communication surrounding operating hours and available beds, ICH said it will develop “standard templates” by Oct. 31 that include the hours for warming centers, low-barrier shelters, overflow and seasonal shelters, hours and locations of warming buses, and updates to transportation schedules. 

ICH also identified updates it plans to integrate into the plan when resources become available, including a transportation schedule for taking people experiencing homelessness to shelters and overflow locations. ICH’s ERSO committee will meet monthly to review feedback and concerns with the plan and update the implementation process as needed. 

ICH said it will advertise the plan and available resources via social media, Metro advertisements, public service announcements, newspapers, business cards, press releases, and HopeOneSource — a free text message application that connects service providers and agencies to clients. People can sign up for the service at hsema.dc.gov/page/alertdc or HopeOneSource at hopeonesource.org/dc. 

Anyone unsure of whether D.C. has implemented a hypothermia alert can contact the shelter hotline at (202) 399-7093 or visit www.dhs.dc.gov. 

This article is part of our 2024 contribution to the D.C. Homeless Crisis Reporting Project in collaboration with other local newsrooms. The collective works will be published throughout the week at bit.ly/DCHCRP.


Issues |Health, Physical|Living Unsheltered|Shelters|Weather


Region |Washington DC

Advertisement

email updates

We believe ending homelessness begins with listening to the stories of those who have experienced it.

Subscribe

RELATED CONTENT