The District expects to open a second non-congregate homeless shelter in Northwest D.C. this summer. The E Street shelter, which was originally set to open this past November, will offer 190 beds with privacy for adult families and medically vulnerable people, expanding the city’s supply in what’s soon expected to be a nearly full shelter system.
The months-long delay mirrors setbacks faced by the Aston, D.C.’s first noncongregare shelter, which opened its doors in fall 2024 after delays securing a housing provider, lawsuits, and a failed building inspection pushed the date back a year. A D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) spokesperson declined to comment on why officials delayed the E Street shelter’s opening, which, with its original date, was slated to raise the number of available beds at the start of hypothermia season, when more people seek shelter. Officials initially announced plans to open the shelter at 25 E St., near Union Station, in summer 2023, including the 190 beds it would provide in the city’s plan to raise the number of available beds by 500 by the end of 2028.
Under the initial timeline, District officials expected to complete renovations on the building — which used to be an office space — in fall 2023 and winter 2024, onboard the provider in spring and summer 2024, and begin accepting tenants in November 2024.
DHS officials said at a March 26 Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) meeting they now expect to open the shelter this summer. Miriam’s Kitchen will run the non-congregate shelter, according to the March ICH presentation. The local homeless services organization does not currently run any shelters, but is one of the city’s main outreach providers.
“DHS and our partners continue to work hard to bring this project online,” a DHS spokesperson said in an email.
As a non-congregate shelter, 25 E St. is a specialty shelter, rather than most shelters in D.C., which are low-barrier. To move into E Street, which the District considers “transitional” housing, people will have to go through a referral process.
In a July 2023 presentation to the 6E Advisory Neighborhood Commission, the ANC for where the E Street shelter is located, DHS said the shelter would serve medically vulnerable people, people who require case management for a “specific population,” like those who require work beds and senior beds, clients who are matched to housing resources through the District’s coordinated entry program, and people who “cannot be served” at other shelters in D.C. — including couples, mixed gender adult families and clients with acute conditions who need a medical respite bed. The shelter will give priority to female clients, according to the presentation.
According to the presentation, officials expect 25 E St. tenants will remain at the shelter for between six and 12 months and will receive consistent medical services and intensive case management during their stay.
While the city did not comment on a reason for the delay at E Street, necessary renovations outlined in the presentation included painting the interior spaces of the building, completing construction on a dining and lounge area, laundry room, storage room and warming kitchen, upgrading security and IT infrastructure, building a medical clinic and administrative spaces, and adding a “flex space” for a boutique and barber shop.
The update comes five months after officials opened the city’s first non-congregate shelter, the Aston, on New Hampshire Avenue in Northwest D.C. District officials had initially intended to house 190 people at the Aston but dropped the number to 100 ahead of its November opening.
DHS officials said at the March meeting that, similar to the Aston, the E Street shelter won’t start at full capacity, but they plan to create a schedule to “ramp up” the number of beds — arranged in pairs with a bathroom for each suite. The Aston initially offered 50 beds but raised the number to 100 in January. About 80 people now live at the Aston, and the city has recently offered beds to some people impacted by encampment closures.
But the model hasn’t been without challenges. Ten of the initial 50-person cohort who moved into the Aston left during the first month, the GW Hatchet first reported. A DHS spokesperson at a January meeting attributed the turnover to some tenants’ difficulties adjusting to a different way of living. The Aston’s noncongregate style, with common spaces, curfews, and rules, can be a large adjustment for people who previously lived on the street or in a low-barrier shelter, some of whom have told Street Sense they found the rules so restrictive they declined a spot at the Aston.
