People who sleep outside in D.C. have experienced a month of disruptions as inclement weather, persistent cold, and the inauguration of a new president altered available services.
Despite the cold weather, shelters have yet to reach capacity this winter, Anthony Newman, the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) deputy administrator said at an Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) meeting on Jan. 22. Newman estimated at least 70 men’s emergency shelter beds are available and unused. So far in January, which tends to be the peak month for shelter utilization, about 1,650 people have used emergency shelter services, fewer than the 1,778 beds the ICH estimated would be needed.
D.C. has experienced several hypothermia alerts and cold weather emergencies this winter. During prolonged cold weather emergencies, the city stationed warming buses around the city, Newman said, with bilingual English-Spanish signage. Still, many service providers and community members worry DHS is not sharing enough information about the buses with those who need them. The warming buses, which are WMATA buses that stay stationary near places where lots of people live or spend time outside, may just look like operational metro buses, so people don’t always know they can seek shelter there, community members said.
At the meeting, DHS officials expressed concerns about widely publicizing the warming buses. Currently, the agency only shares information about the buses and their locations with DHS-affiliated service providers, who can then share the information with their clients.
“We don’t want to attract crowds, don’t want this to become a spectacle for media,” Newman said. “Warming buses are not our first option, nor is it something DHS sees as the best option.”
The decision to keep bus locations “silent,” or unpublicized, angered some meeting participants.
“This is why people get frostbitten,” said one person who identified herself as Miss Umi.
Participants also discussed concerns about accessing shelter in inclement weather. While the city operates a separate bus service to bring people to shelters during the winter, community members reported some of the buses are not accessible to those with disabilities. It is left up to service providers and drivers to request ADA-compliant vehicles when needed. This process can leave people sitting outside for hours waiting to be picked up, according to service providers.
Officials and service providers also expressed concerns about losing a “key resource,” the Mt. Pleasant Library, which will be closed for renovations from Feb. 10 through June 23, leaving some Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant residents worried about a lack of resources in their communities. District Bridges and Miriam’s Kitchen continue to operate as the primary service providers for the area.
In addition to the cold weather, D.C. services had to adapt to the inauguration on Jan. 20. During the inauguration, officials relocated people living within the “no walking zone,” downtown and expanded the emergency operations team. One hypothermia shelter, located at the Church of the Epiphany, was closed over the inauguration weekend, and vehicle access to other shelters and day centers downtown was limited.
Many people living by MLK Library, which was inside the “no walking zone,” left the area before the inauguration, though some stayed behind, according to ICH members. The library was closed on Inauguration Day, and those who stayed behind were left out in the cold. Recent changes to the enforcement of library policy have pressured people to leave what was once considered a “safe space” for many experiencing homelessness.
“It’s an imperfect system,” Newman said.
Near the end of the meeting, current ICH Special Advisor Eileen Rosa, who joined the organization in July 2022, announced she would be leaving in February. No immediate plans to replace Rosa were discussed. The ICH website currently lists only two full-time employees, Rosa and Theresa Silla, the ICH director. The ICH is currently hiring for six additional roles.
