Most years, our first wintertime severe weather activation happens right around Thanksgiving—mid to late November.
During the time between the hot and cold weather, the team at KCRHA works on analyzing the last season so we can learn and improve while also preparing for the next season. Some of the tasks that are currently underway to prepare for the upcoming cold season include:
- Setting up 2025 severe weather response contracts with service providers
- Preparing to award and set up contracts resulting from the 2026 Severe Weather Response Request for Proposals (closing on October 20)
- Presenting our plans for severe weather response to partner agencies
- Leading a tabletop exercise with core activation partners
- Consulting with faith communities who are interested in providing spaces for shelters
- Collaborating with University of Washington/Harborview researchers on cold injury prevention and severe weather shelter cost effectiveness
In addition to all those tasks, we are preparing for the first activation in a new way by reaching out well in advance to gather new and expanded information on shelter and warming space information to be listed on our website. By doing this, we anticipate being able to launch the first activation of the season more efficiently and effectively.
In response to feedback we received from the community, this year we are also seeking to expand the information we list on overnight shelters and day centers to include additional information such as specific services provided, animal/pet policies, accessibility notes, and more. This will allow those seeking shelter to make more informed choices in real time as they make decisions about where they will go to get out of cold or inclement weather.
Earlier this month, we started this process with local service providers and members of the Seattle-King County Continuum of Care.
Now we are reaching out to the public to help make our list of warming spaces as robust as possible, providing as many options as possible for community members who need them.
These spaces may include:
- Overnight Shelters
- Daytime Spaces with Services such as:
- Day Centers
- Libraries that offer case management
- Churches that open for meals and distribution of hygiene, clothes, or survival supplies
- Public Spaces such as:
- Community Centers
- Shopping Centers
- Religious Gathering Spaces that open their doors during severe weather
Any space that is open to people experiencing homelessness (that does not require them to be a paying patron) and generally stays open or opens up during severe weather can be listed.
If you are a representative of a space where unhoused community members can go to get out of the cold, rain, or snow, please take about five minutes to fill out the KCRHA Winter 2025 Shelter Info Survey.
While it is KCRHA’s task to organize and administer severe weather emergency response for unsheltered neighbors in King County, it is truly an all-hands-on-deck community-wide effort to ensure everyone has access to a warm, safe space, when winter weather hits.
