Update (Friday, Dec. 20): Several organizations have announced extended hours or special activities in connection with Lancaster County’s Code Blue declaration this weekend, as follows:
Saturday, Dec. 21
- Tenfold will keep its emergency shelter at 308 King St., Lancaster, open until 11 a.m.
- St Joseph Catholic Church, 440 St. Joseph St., Lancaster, will host a warming station from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- The Moravian Center, 227 N. Queen St., Lancaster, will host a trivia game and a movie from 3 to 6 p.m. Refreshments provided.
Sunday, Dec. 22
- Lancaster County Food Hub, 812 N. Queen St., will host a warming station from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch provided.
Previously reported:
The Lancaster County Homelessness Coalition is declaring its first “Code Blue” of the 2024-25 winter season.
The designation will take effect Saturday night, Dec. 21, and run through Monday morning, Dec. 23, the coalition said in an alert sent out Thursday morning to nonprofits and homelessness service providers.
The coalition declares Code Blue when forecasted temperatures or wind chills drop below designated thresholds or there is a significant storm. In this instance, overnight lows of 13 degrees and 8 degrees, respectively, are forecast for Saturday and Sunday.
During a Code Blue, emergency overnight shelters are asked to increase capacity if possible, day centers are asked to extend their hours and street outreach teams to intensify their efforts to provide necessities and encourage people sleeping outside to take shelter.
The coalition said it will monitor conditions this weekend “and provide updates as needed.”
Lancaster County’s winter shelter season opened at the start of December. Recent additions to shelter capacity include a temporary low-barrier shelter, now with a capacity of 64 beds, at Tenfold, 308 E. King St., and the seasonal opening of the Elizabethtown Emergency Shelter at 105 E. Washington St., Elizabethtown.
Meanwhile, work is nearing completion on an 80-bed shelter at Otterbein United Methodist Church at 20 E. Clay St., Lancaster. It is expected to open Dec. 30, initially with 40 beds. It plans to ramp up to full capacity by mid-January, whereupon Tenfold’s temporary shelter will shut down.
