Long Beach winter homeless shelter to open Jan. 1, later than in past years
Inclement weather beds are sporadically offered at the Multi-Service Center; another 40 beds will be added at the year-round shelter on West Anaheim Street.
Long Beach’s winter shelter, which adds more beds to get unhoused people indoors during the colder, wetter months, will open Jan. 1 at 702 W. Anaheim St., city officials said Tuesday.
The winter shelter bounced between locations until the city launched the year-round West Anaheim Street facility in 2023, but it has opened at least by Christmas every year since 2016 and last year came online in mid-November, according to city information.
Long Beach officials blamed the delay this year on changes to the process of hiring an operator for the winter shelter. The contract is handled by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA, which also funds the extra seasonal beds.
“Unfortunately this year, the contracting process took longer between LAHSA and First To Serve because there were changes made in the contracting process that contributed to the delays,” city Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Jennifer Rice Epstein said in an email.
Nonprofit First to Serve already operates the year-round emergency shelter where the 40 winter beds will be added, and it also runs a separate city-owned transitional housing facility.
Five other LAHSA-funded winter shelters around the county opened Nov. 1.
Epstein said city staff “supported where possible to ensure the shelter would be ready whenever the contract was finalized” and noted that the city has added “hundreds of year-round shelter beds” at several locations over the past few years.
The city does make 40 beds available at the Multi-Service Center, the homeless services hub, when cold temperatures or rain are forecast.
But city statistics show Long Beach’s shelters have been at or above 90% full for at least the past nine months, with occupancy hitting 98% in September, and there’s a wait list for the available beds.
Since the summer the city has been more actively enforcing its longstanding ban on public camping, targeting several parks and warning people to remove their tents or face citations and possible arrest.
To request a Long Beach shelter bed, call 562-570-4500 or visit the Multi-Service Center at 1301 W. 12th St. More resources and information are available here.
To find a bed elsewhere in Los Angeles County, dial 211.
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