Cold Weather Emergency Shelter to open on nights below 32

Starting tonight Dec. 1, the City and Borough of Juneau’s cold weather emergency shelter will open on nights below 32 degrees from 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. the following morning. The facility, located inside the former public safety building owned by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority on Whittier Street, will serve as an additional shelter opportunity for up to 20 people experiencing homelessness.

In early November, the Assembly approved $75,000 to fund shelter operations, including the building lease and staffing. CBJ has partnered with the Glory Hole and AWARE to provide two staff people on site at all times the shelter is open. If you or someone you know is interested in working or volunteering at the cold weather emergency shelter, please contact the Glory Hole at [email protected] or AWARE at [email protected].

To determine what nights the shelter is open, CBJ staff will work with the National Weather Service in Juneau. The public will be notified at 10 a.m. if the shelter will open that night. Notifications will be posted on the CBJ Housing Program website, CBJ’s Facebook page, Twitter and shared through word of mouth.

The CBJ cold weather shelter will be a sleeping only facility. Community members interested in assisting the homeless or in providing food, clothing, or donations are encouraged to support the agencies that offer these services year-round.  A list of these agencies can be found on the Juneau Coalition on Housing and Homelessness website.

For more information, contact CBJ Chief Housing Office Scott Ciambor at 586-0220 or [email protected]