Emergency Housing Defined

Emergency housing can be defined as being a short-term accommodation for those who are experiencing a crisis or who are homeless. The two main types of housing are public emergency housing and personal emergency shelters. Most emergency housing facilities furnish a place to sleep, meals/food, showers, laundry area, and clothing. A homeless shelter is just one of the types of emergency housing.

Most shelters have separate living quarters for men, women and families. Sometimes these facilities are restricted for individuals that are victims of abuse or have substance abuse problems. A number of shelters will offer their residents counselling services and other supportive services. Some facilities even offer some of these services for people who are not staying at the emergency shelter. Often these programs are called "drop-in" programs. Each individual shelter facility has its own regulations regarding who's allowed to stay, as well as for how long and what services are offered.

An emergency shelter is a destination for individuals to reside for the short term if they can't reside in their previous home, much like a homeless shelter. The real difference would be that an emergency shelter generally focuses on individuals fleeing a particular situation, like some type of disaster (tornado, hurricane or earthquake), man-made disaster, or domestic violence situation.

One difference between a homeless shelter and emergency shelter is that people are apt to stay throughout the day, with the exception of going to work or school, if possible at that time. Homeless shelters normally open at night only for sleeping or may open earlier to serve an evening meal. Emergency shelters will often offer food or meals, depending on the facility.

Many emergency shelters are set-up by organizations such as the Salvation Army or the Red Cross. Usually, local or federal government departments will respond as possible to disasters, like earthquakes or floods. Many times they will put up tents or some other type of temporary structure to house people. Sometimes schools or churches or school will be used for emergency shelters.

A more recent type of emergency shelter is called the warming center. Warming centers normally are opened when the weather gets below freezing or on really rainy evenings. They are open for individuals that do not want to stay at a homeless shelter, and may not have enough heat in their homes or aren't permitted to stay at a homeless shelter.

A variety of factors can easily result in a person, or family, becoming homeless within minutes. A home catching fire, a natural disaster or domestic violence are only a some of the causes individuals may find themselves using an emergency shelter. The one factor those reasons share is the need of some type of protection either from the elements or from another person.

Size and Cost

There is no standard size for an emergency shelter. This type of shelter may take care of just one individual or can take care of hundreds in really large buildings. Nearly all
shelters tend to be stationary. Although, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) does have three different sizes of disaster housing that is mobile (manufactured homes.) Most of these are free if people satisfy the eligibility qualifications. Sometimes fees are charged at minimal rates, or on a sliding scale dependent upon how much a person earns.

Personal Shelter

Some people have even suggested the idea of using old shipping containers for emergency shelter. They are very sturdy, functional and are not difficult to set up. Of course, a community will have to have them already in their community to be prepared ahead of time for using them in the event a disaster happens in their area.

Tour Homeless Shelter + Permanent Housing

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