Pittsburgh Winter Shelter Closes as Encampment Sweeps Narrow Options for Unhoused Residents

As Allegheny County’s winter shelter at the former McNaugher Education Center officially closes, the unhoused population in Pittsburgh faces dwindling options. The shelter, which operated in Perry South for the first time this season, served an average of 80 people per night and peaked at 132. Run by North Side Partnership Project and Community Family Advocates, the facility closes amid a tightening crisis—overflow shelters have also shut down, and recent reports cite just three open beds system-wide. Meanwhile, the City of Pittsburgh and the county plan to clear encampments along the South Side Riverfront Trail by July 1, and restrict camping in Uptown near Second Avenue Commons. Advocates fear a surge in unsheltered homelessness as people turn to abandoned buildings or street encampments for refuge.