Pinellas County — Cold night shelters across Pinellas County will open Tuesday night, Dec. 30, according to the Homeless Leadership Alliance. The shelters will operate from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Shelter guests are accepted until each location reaches capacity. All sites provide overnight shelter, and some locations also serve meals. Cold night shelters are activated when the National Weather Service forecasts a “feels like” temperature of 40 degrees or below in Pinellas County between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) will offer free bus transportation to and from cold night shelters from 5 p.m. Tuesday through 7 a.m. Wednesday. Riders must inform the bus operator they are traveling to a Pinellas cold night shelter to ride without fare.
The following cold weather shelters are available for adult men and women:
Tarpon Springs
Boys and Girls Club of Tarpon Springs Address: 111 W. Lime Street PSTA Route: #19
Clearwater
First United Methodist Church of Clearwater Address: 411 Turner Street PSTA Route: #52A
Pinellas Park
Boys & Girls Club of Pinellas Park Address: 7790 61st St. N. PSTA Route: #74
St. Petersburg
Unitarian Universalist Church Address: 100 Mirror Lake Drive N. Note: This location requires the use of stairs. PSTA Routes: #9, #20, #24, SunRunner Salvation Army Address: 1400 4th Street South PSTA Route: #4A or #4B
Families with children are placed in designated family shelters on cold nights, if space is available. Families seeking placement should contact 2-1-1 First Contact for information.
The Homeless Leadership Alliance is also seeking volunteers for this and future cold night shelter activations. Information on volunteering is available at pinellashomeless.org/become-a-volunteer.