Winter warming shelter

A homeless resident urged the council to think beyond a fixed bed count, describing people who won't abandon belongings in shopping carts, and advocated low-cost tiny houses as a broader solution.

An advocate with Homeless Voices for Justice cited 52 unhoused deaths in 2025, the February blizzard when the shelter didn't open, and warned more people will die without a nightly shelter.

An advocate with lived experience listed necessities for any warming center — 100-bed capacity, nightly operation, better staff training, breakfast and coffee, and full-size shuttle service — and opposed the $900,000 price tag.

A homeowner and volunteer called both options unacceptable — the HSC bans people unfairly and 166 is inaccessible and overpriced — and urged the city to identify a peninsula location it owns for next year.

A former HSC housing counselor warned that adding beds at the HSC would create pandemonium for staff and guests, and urged protection for the many trespassed people who'd have nowhere else to go.

Preble Street's advocacy director pushed for an on-time November 15 opening, late-night hourly shuttles, and a process to review the roughly 60 criminal trespass orders so those people can shelter.

A 20-year peninsula provider said both options have major drawbacks, called the settlement money blood money that shouldn't fill a budget gap, and asked for a long-term fix instead of an annual scramble.