Allegheny County adds 32 emergency shelter overflow beds; low temps in 20s to continue
Allegheny County has added 32 overflow beds to its emergency shelter system as several nights of below-freezing temperatures are expected in the Pittsburgh area.
The additional capacity, as of Monday evening, included 20 beds for single women at the Salvation Army Family Caring Center.
A dozen overflow beds for any gender were in place at Unity Recovery commUNITY Place shelter, with an another eight beds to be added there soon.
“Last night we had more than 30 unused spaces, along with significant capacity in our Code Blue Shelter,” Allegheny County Department of Human Services Director Erin Dalton said on Tuesday.
The county initiates a Code Blue Action Plan when the National Weather Service forecasts the air temperature will fall below 26 degrees between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. A Code Blue event means that all county homeless shelters will remain open 24 hours a day, and an additional emergency shelter will open if the existing shelters reach capacity.
Temperatures dropped to 26 degrees Monday night. The National Weather Service forecast lows for Pittsburgh of 24 degrees Tuesday night, 26 degrees Wednesday night and 29 degrees Thursday night.
Lows are then expected to remain above freezing — at 35 degrees Friday night and 38 degrees Saturday night.
Allegheny County began December with 457 shelter beds, including 377 permanent beds and 80 overflow beds.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.
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