More than 1,000 people in Allegheny County are known to be living in emergency shelters or on the streets, according to a recent tally.
In late November 2022, as the Second Avenue Commons shelter opened, the same county dashboard showed fewer than 700 unhoused people.
In addition to rising numbers, the last two years have been marked by big changes in the ways in which the county and the City of Pittsburgh respond to homelessness. PublicSource has covered those shifts, and the lives of people affected by them, in its Shelter Stakes series.
With more change afoot, here’s a lookback at two years of housing instability.
November 2022
After several weeks of delays, the Second Avenue Commons shelter opened in Uptown, with an initial 95 beds and space for an additional 30 overflow beds.
Construction continues on the Second Avenue Commons on Aug. 11, 2022, in Uptown. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
December 2022
Second Avenue Commons worked through a series of staffing and start-up challenges. The county also funded the longstanding emergency shelter at the Smithfield United Church of Christ, Downtown.
The newly opened Second Avenue Commons sits nestled beside the Liberty Bridge as rush hour traffic zips by on Jan. 18, 2023, in Uptown. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
January 2023
In the wake of the clearing of a camp on Stockton Avenue in Allegheny Center, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Community Justice Project demanded that the city and county develop policies for respectfully decommissioning homeless encampments.
Lynn Glorieux sweeps up around Allegheny Commons on Dec. 1, 2022. Behind her is the encampment along Stockton Avenue, later cleared by the city. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
April 2023
A PublicSource investigation showed that the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh was administering the Housing Choice Voucher program — often referred to as Section 8 — in a way that was deterring some landlords from participating. HACP officials later pledged to improve Section 8 management.
Kendall Pelling, left, Rising Tide Partners’ executive director, and Dee Levy, one of the organization’s Section 8 clients, stand outside of Ms. Levy’s Hazelwood home on April 1, 2023. Rising Tide was trying to work with the Housing Authority to secure back payments on Section 8 vouchers. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
May 2023
County data showed a pandemic-era upward swing in the number of people ages 14 to 25 using homelessness services. The county announced that the Smithfield shelter would close the following month. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey asked advocates for advice on homelessness, and some told PublicSource what they thought local leaders should know.
People wait to get into the Smithfield United Church of Christ shelter on May 22, 2023, when Allegheny County Department of Human Services announced that the downtown Pittsburgh space would close. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
June 2023
A draft Pittsburgh policy proposed new criteria for closing encampments. Allegheny County went through with plans to close the Smithfield shelter, upending the fragile lives of many unhoused people and bringing spirited debate, with just one point of broad agreement, to County Council.
Jon Colburn, parish administrator at Smithfield United Church of Christ, and Aubrey Plesh, founder of Team PSBG which operated the church shelter, speak to Allegheny County Council. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
July 2023
HACP officials revealed steps taken to improve the Section 8 program, indicating that 394 additional households had been provided with rentals through the voucher program since the beginning of the year.
Sun sets beyond the offices of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh on May 22, 2023, in downtown Pittsburgh. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
August 2023
The city adopted its new encampment clearing policy, outlining the intent to “decommission” tent clusters on private property, near roads or trails or where there is evidence of drug sales or public health concerns.
A person sets up a new tent for himself and his partner after packing up belongings to move amid the city’s closure of the First Avenue encampment, where they were staying, on Nov. 6, 2023. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
September 2023
The county closed the overflow shelter space at Second Avenue Commons, temporarily taking 40 beds off line, citing success at placing people in more permanent housing.
A person sits beside Second Avenue Commons as framed by the surrounding bridge and highway, on Sept. 8, 2023. The evening was the last night for people to sty in the facility’s overflow shelter. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
November 2023
The county announced plans to accommodate as many as 450 people on cold winter nights. The county later added that the City of Pittsburgh’s Ammon Recreation Center in the Hill District would become an emergency shelter when temperatures drop below 26 degrees. A PublicSource probe revealed that one layer of the shelter safety net — single room occupancy housing — was seeing accelerated evictions.
Caydee holds her dog for a portrait by the First Avenue encampment where she was living, on Oct. 29, 2023, in Downtown. She missed the community at the winter shelter at the Smithfield United Church of Christ. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
February 2024
The county’s efforts to house some of the most vulnerable residents — and related housing quality difficulties — came into focus as a McKees Rocks household endured health code violations and faced down condemnation.
Stephanie Brock in her rental home’s kitchen on Feb. 5, 2024, in her rental house in McKees Rocks. Brock says she went for months without a working stove. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
April 2024
Housing advocates and unhoused people alleged that Second Avenue Commons — billed as “low-barrier” housing — was kicking out residents for “minor infractions” of its rules. Shelter management characterized the accusations as vague and defended its “reasonable rules.”
Activist and community organizer Sam Schmidt and Howard Ramsey, both of the Our Streets Collective, leave Second Avenue Commons after delivering a letter to leadership on April 19, 2024. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
June 2024
A fire at Second Avenue Commons forced the county to find alternatives for some 180 people who were then using its various housing offerings. Days later, County Executive Sara Innamorato announced a plan to bring online 500 housing units in 500 days.
Reena, 64, a guest at the shelter floor of Second Avenue Commons, talks outside the building as crews assess the building after a fire on June 4, 2024. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
July 2024
The Second Avenue Commons fire left many unhoused people without key possessions and scrambling for other options. With the cornerstone of the shelter system uninhabitable, advocates and social service providers sought to address needs.
From left, Marvell Stillwell, 39, Tara Springer, 34, Anita Green, 43, and Timothy Maloni, 42, photographed in June 2024. The four have recent experience with housing instability. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
September 2024
Despite inherent challenges, the process of transitioning people from homelessness to long-term housing can succeed — as it has for Howard Ramsey.
Howard Ramsey pages through the writing in his notebook in his Squirrel Hill apartment on Sept. 17, 2024. He is working on a book of his life. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
October 2024
The county announced the reopening of Second Avenue Commons, plus its plans for emergency shelter during the impending winter. The plan would accommodate as many as 600 people on cold days, with a new facility in Perry South serving as a second anchor.
A car turns onto Maple Avenue at the former McNaugher Education Center school on Dec. 2, 2024, in Perry South. The county plans to bus people to the new winter shelter in the building. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
Rich Lord is PublicSource’s managing editor and can be reached at rich@publicsource.org.
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