The St. Louis City Department of Human Services is one of the many local organizations that use a Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) platform, and this platform is administered by the Institute for Community Alliances. According to HMIS, there are just over 800 combined beds year-round for emergency shelter and transitional housing. This includes around 340 emergency shelter beds, and around 500 transitional housing beds.
- These beds have a 94% utilization rate on average
- Some beds come offline because of maintenance or other issues at sheltering/housing facilities, but providers work quickly to get them back online whenever possible. This inevitably affects the bed count according to the system
| Biddle Housing Opportunities Center | 52 |
| Gateway 180 | 15 |
| Americorps (operating at 20 degrees and below, Thurs-Sat) | 35-40 |
| Wellston Loop Community Development Corporation (operating at 32 degrees and below) | 15 |
| Peter & Paul Community Services (additional permanent beds coming online during winter) | 40 (bringing total to 100) |
| Total Funded Winter Beds | 157-162 |
Supplies
- DHS is actively fulfilling winter supplies orders for verified outreach organizations and partners. Supplies include blankets, hats, socks, cots, and cleaning supplies. Some others may be available depending on inventory
Shelter Referrals
- United Way’s 2-1-1 is the best resource for finding shelter & resources. To avoid overcrowding, most shelters require a referral from 2-1-1 or GetHelp.
- All outreach partners, including 2-1-1 operators, are trained on GetHelp, an app centralizing data on shelter bed availability.
Warming Centers
- List of Senior Centers where waiting rooms can be used for warming centers
- City Seniors, Inc; Five Star Center; Northside Youth and Senior Service Center; Robert Fulton Development, Inc; Urban League Patch
- Locations and hours of operation can be found on the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging website: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/human-services/aging-services/senior-centers.cfm
- St. Louis Public Libraries
- Central, Baden, Barr, Buder, Cabanne, Carondelet, Carpenter, Divoll, Julia Davis, Kingshighway, Machacek, Schalfly, and Walnut Park.
- Locations and Hours of operation can be found on the St. Louis Public Library website: www.slpl.org
Funding
- DHS Winter/Inclement Weather RFP: just under $200,000, which funded two providers. Balance of funding was extended to St. Patrick Center Safe Haven/Grace House to extend operations through March 2025
- DHS coordinating with HESTL on their RFP: Appx $100,000 made available for a privately-raised winter flex fund
Outreach
- Ongoing joint outreach collaboration with the Department of Health’s Behavioral Health Bureau
- Funded outreach partnership with Affinia Healthcare and their Mobile Outreach Unit
- Funded outreach partnership with Places for People
Regional Collaboration with East-West Gateway Council of Governments, Greater St. Louis Inc, and HESTL on the Unhoused
- DHS coordinated the regional housing summit this fall that convened Continua of Care across two states, public housing authorities, elected officials, and a host of businesses and funders to create a regional strategy that supports the expansion of housing opportunities for the unhoused. This effort was the first of its type in the region, and the DHS is hopeful that the initiative will lead to greater coordination amongst providers and policymakers in the bi-state region.
Additional information can be found here by clicking here.
