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Dallas shelters more than 1,200 people during storm; officials seek volunteers, blankets and donations
Summary
Office of Homeless Solutions and partner Austin Street reported 1,268 people sheltered across three sites, 36 placements completed at Grand Place so far, and requests for volunteers, blankets and large adult male coats with drop-off and contact details provided.
Office of Homeless Solutions and shelter partner Austin Street described sheltering operations and ways the public can help during the winter storm.
"As of this morning, we are now sheltering 1,268 individuals," Christine Crossley of the Office of Homeless Solutions said, listing counts by site: Grand Place at Fair Park (793), Tower Building at Fair Park (205) and Austin Street (270). Crossley said temporary inclement-weather shelters are accepting pets (13 animals total: four cats and nine dogs), that pickup times run 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and that 311 is the entry point for cold-weather shelter requests (311 lines operating between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.; cold-weather shelter request handling is focused from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.). She encouraged people to come inside and noted cold-weather packs are available at listed recreation centers.
Daniel Roby, president and CEO of Austin Street, said placement teams are working at every location and that "36 placements have happened at Grand Place" so far. Roby asked for volunteers and in-kind donations, especially blankets, and gave a drop-off location for donations: 1717 Jeffrey Street (zip 75226), between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. He also said Austin Street is running a 40-passenger and a 25-passenger wheelchair-accessible bus to pickup locations and urged those willing to help to visit austinstreet.org or use the volunteer email provided by the city (ohsvolunteer@dallas.gov).
Roby described placement work as case-by-case rather than a uniform hotel-placement strategy. "There are teams that do this for a living," he said, describing social workers and case managers who evaluate medical, treatment and housing needs and use the homeless management information system to track individuals for follow-up engagement.
Officials emphasized that the immediate priority is life-saving sheltering during the storm and that the city and partners will continue outreach and placement efforts after the event.
