Where to find a homeless shelter tonight, with listings by state
If you have nowhere to sleep tonight, an emergency shelter is the fastest option there is. Most towns of any size have at least one, run by a church, a charity, or the county, and most take people the same day when a space is open.
Everything on this page points toward that first night: the free services that find an open bed anywhere in the country, the national charities that run shelters, and local shelter listings organized by state, including a Salvation Army page for each state.
The difference between a shelter and transitional housing
A homeless shelter is for right now. You can usually get in the same day by walking in, calling ahead, or being referred through 211, and stays are short — a night at a time at some locations, a few weeks at others. Nobody needs to complete a long application first.
Transitional housing is the step after that. It is a program you apply into, usually through an interview or a shared local intake process, with a private room or unit and a stay measured in months while staff help you work toward a permanent home.
If the longer program is what you need, start with the guide to transitional housing programs for how they work, and the directory of transitional housing programs for local listings. The rest of this page stays on emergency shelter.
Free services that find an open shelter bed
Dialing 211 connects you with someone whose job is knowing which local shelters have space. Tell them tonight is the problem — operators in most areas can check beds for single adults, families, and youth separately, since those are often different buildings. The call is free, and it works at any hour in most of the country.
Domestic violence shelters are their own network, reached fastest through the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. An advocate can find a confidential local shelter with space and help you plan how to get there safely. The chat at https://www.thehotline.org works when talking out loud is not safe.
Veterans can call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838 instead of a general shelter line. VA staff answer at all hours and connect callers with emergency housing options through the nearest VA. A family member or social worker can also call for a veteran, and details are on the VA homeless programs page at https://department.va.gov/homeless/nationalcallcenter/.
Teens and young adults on their own have a separate line as well: the National Runaway Safeline at 1-800-786-2929, which answers calls and texts at that number and runs a chat at https://www.1800runaway.org. Staff answer around the clock, refer young people to local youth shelters, and can arrange a free bus ride home or to a safe place through their Home Free program when that is the right move.
If you would rather search than call, the federal Find Shelter tool at https://www.hud.gov/findshelter is built for exactly this. Type in a city or ZIP code and it maps shelters in the area, along with nearby food pantries, health clinics, and clothing help.
Behind all of these services sits one local network: the Continuum of Care, the group in each region that coordinates homeless assistance and the shared intake process. HUD publishes a directory of the homeless assistance contact for every Continuum of Care at https://www.hudexchange.info/homelessness-assistance/homeless-help/, with a name, phone number, and email for each region. Reaching that person is another way in when 211 in your area does not have answers.
Dangerous weather opens locations that are closed the rest of the year. Many communities add warming space during severe cold and cooled space during extreme heat, often in churches, libraries, or community buildings, and some of these run overnight while others are daytime rooms only. These seasonal locations change constantly, so 211 is the reliable way to learn what opened this week.
When every shelter is full, a few agencies may pay for a short motel stay instead, and the same charities that run shelters often manage those vouchers (however they are less common). The possible free motel and hotel vouchers guide explains who offers them and what to expect.
National charities that run emergency shelters
Most shelters in this country are charity operations, and a few big names run them in city after city. Knowing the names helps because their local offices take direct calls, and staff at one shelter can usually tell you about every other shelter in town.
The Salvation Army operates emergency shelters across the country, from year round facilities to cold weather beds that open only in winter. Because their programs differ by location, this site keeps a separate page for each state, and those pages sit in the state listings below next to the local shelter pages. The national picture is in the guide to Salvation Army assistance programs including housing.
Local YWCA associations center their shelter and housing work on survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and some also run broader housing for women and families. Their programs pair a safe place to stay with advocacy, legal help, and planning for what comes next. More is in the NHPB guide to YWCA assistance programs.
Family Promise shelters families with children so nobody gets separated, using space in local congregations along with day centers for meals, showers, and housing help. Older referrals may still use the charity's former name, Interfaith Hospitality Network. The NHPB guide to Family Promise covers the program and where affiliates operate.
Catholic Charities agencies, many of which are churches, in many cities run emergency shelters, and some focus on mothers with children, refugees, or people leaving abuse. Since every agency sets its own programs, calling the local office is the only way to know what exists where you live. Start from the guide to getting help from Catholic Charities.
Volunteers of America affiliates, or VOA, operate emergency shelters in many regions alongside their longer housing programs, with particular attention to veterans and people leaving jail or prison. The Volunteers of America guide page shows which regional office covers your state.
Shelters usually feed the people staying in them, and free meals exist outside shelters too. The NHPB guide to soup kitchens lists hot meal programs that anyone can walk into, no questions asked.
One more national name is worth knowing even though it does not run shelters: the National Coalition for the Homeless, the country's oldest homeless advocacy organization. Their site at https://nationalhomeless.org explains how the assistance system works and what rights people keep while homeless, which helps when a shelter or agency is treating you unfairly.
Firsthand reports in the moderated community forum
Sometimes the most useful detail — whether a shelter enforces its curfew, how early the line forms, which staff member to ask for — comes from someone who stayed there. The homeless shelter discussion thread in the moderated forum collects those firsthand reports from readers across the country, and questions posted there get answers from people who have been through it. Reading and posting are free.
Local shelter listings by state
Each state below lists the local shelter pages this site keeps for that area, along with that state's Salvation Army page, since their offices are a common source of emergency beds. The local pages carry names, addresses, and phone numbers, and most also cover transitional housing for the same area. Beds fill daily, so call before traveling to any address on them.
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
\Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Washington DC
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Shelter space changes by the night, and the programs on these pages adjust their hours, rules, and seasonal openings without notice. Treat every listing as a lead to confirm by phone, through 211, or in person rather than a guarantee of a placement.
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