What Happens During a Code Blue and How to Get Help

What is a Code Blue?

The Office of Homeless Services declares a Code Blue when the National Weather Service forecasts precipitation and a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, or, when the wind chill is forecasted to reach 20 degrees or below.

A Code Blue activation alerts shelter providers, increases the number of shelter beds, and puts the City's 24/7 Homeless Street Outreach Team on high alert, operating more urgently to encourage people living on the street in freezing temperatures to let them take them to an intake center or shelter.

All year, OHS opens about 3,000 shelter beds. But during the winter - usually December 1 through March 31 - OHS activates its Winter Initiative, adding nearly 300 more shelter beds in anticipation of an increased need. These Winter Initiative beds are open every night. During a Code Blue, however, OHS adds another 50 or more beds to ensure there are enough for anyone who needs one.

How to find shelter during a Code Blue

Intake Centers

To get help for someone who is sleeping outdoors in the cold, anyone may call the Homeless Outreach Hotline at (215) 232-1984 to bring them to an intake center where staff will find and assign them to a shelter based on their needs.

If someone is not able to call, they may visit a City intake center, where staff will help locate a shelter best suited for them.

All year round, including during Code Blue declarations, the City's daytime intake centers are open Monday through Friday. When the daytime centers close for the day, after-hour intake centers are open weeknights and weekends.

When City government offices are closed, however, such as during a snow emergency, on holidays, and weekends, daytime intake centers are not open. After-hour intake centers stay open 24/7 when the City has declared a snow emergency.

After-hour intake centers:

• People identifying as female (singles only)
• House of Passage, 111 N. 49th Street
• People identifying as male (singles only)
• The Mike Hinson Resource Center, 1701 W. Lehigh Avenue
• Families (head of household with children)
• Red Shield Family Residence, 715 N. Broad Street

Shelter bed guests may stay inside Code Blue and Winter Initiative shelter bed locations until the Code is lifted, except for the DBHIDS-funded West Philly Navigation Center.

Warming centers

OHS, in partnership with the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department, The Free Library of Philadelphia, and provider, Project HOME, opens warming centers during a Code Blue. Anyone who needs a warm indoor place to stay may visit a warming center or daytime drop-in center, where food is also available. They may also call Outreach at (215) 232-1984 to get a ride to one.