Shelters are a vital part of the homeless services system as they can keep people alive during extreme weather events, and serve as ideal locations to connect people with needed services -- primarily permanent housing.

4. Emergency and Temporary Shelter

• 4.A: Inclement Weather Shelter
• 4.B: Expand Coordinated Entry Access in Shelters

People in housing crisis will always need a safe and decent place to go immediately. It also provides an opportunity to connect them with more housing and support services. Read the entire section here (pages 66-70 of the full report).

4.A: Inclement Weather Shelter

Extreme temperatures and severe weather events can be deadly for people living outdoors. Temporary emergency plans have helped reduce frighteningly high weather-related death tolls during the winter months in Oklahoma City.

The strategy calls for an expansion of emergency shelter planning throughout the year to reduce deaths and severe injuries due to extreme heat, flooding, tornadoes and other weather-related events, plus winter weather and freezing temperatures.

4.B: Expand Coordinated Entry Access in Shelters

Someone seeking emergency shelter needs more services than just a place to stay and sleep. It's an ideal time to connect people with opportunities for life-changing support they may not otherwise have sought out.

OKC's strategies call for an expansion of services in shelters specifically focused on moving people into permanent housing as quickly as possible, and helping them sustain that housing.

Read the full Emergency and Temporary Shelter section here (pages 66-70 of the full report).

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