Emergency Sheltering for Unhoused Populations during Extreme Winter Weather Events: A Comparison Between Guidance Documents and Local Planning

In a world experiencing drastic climate changes, extreme winter weather is a present and future concern. Regardless of geographic location, extreme winter weather has detrimental effects on communities across the United States. Exposure to extreme winter weather may result in cold-related injuries or death, disproportionately impacting populations that spend more time outside, such as people experiencing homelessness. Gronlund concluded that there is "a higher risk of hypothermia, hyperthermia, and mortality among the homeless vs. non-homeless during periods of extreme heat or cold (Gronlund, 2018)." Communities across the United States routinely combat the effects of cold weather by implementing various disaster plans. This Capstone compares national and federal guidance for sheltering unhoused populations in extreme winter weather with a sample of existing community emergency sheltering plans. The guidance documents include both government and non-government organizations. The sample of community plans are from cities across the United States, incorporating a variety of geographic locations and climate regions. Guidance documents are compared to the community plans, identifying crucial sheltering strategies, such as shelter plan activation, operations, communication, transportation, capacity, and shelter plan deactivation. After the comparison, common themes are identified, and recommendations are made for each significant sheltering strategy. Each plan or guidance document offers a unique approach to addressing the major strategies in winter sheltering plans. Recommendations for future guidance may be compiled into a single, detailed document, such as a plan component checklist, applicable to any community across the United States.