photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Massachusetts Street was packed with snow Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2025.

As a polar vortex has kept Lawrence in its grip, the city’s Homeless Solutions Division says it has been able to provide warmth and shelter to anyone seeking it, and that includes pets.

“Nobody has died, and that’s pretty amazing,” the division’s director, Misty Bosch-Hastings, told the Journal-World Wednesday, when high temperatures remained in the single digits with below-zero wind chills. It’s not something that could have been said in recent winters, she added.

The city’s Extreme Weather Emergency Shelter Plan has been operating throughout the winter, which has now seen three major snowstorms and blistering wind chills.

“Our team continues daily outreach to ensure people are aware of their options,” Bosch-Hastings said, noting that her team has seen an increase in individuals seeking shelter.

Currently, only two of the four participating churches — First United Methodist Church and University Community of Christ — have been actively operating as shelters over the last six to seven weeks. University Community has been open 24/7 during the extreme cold so that guests do not have to find somewhere to go during the day to stay warm.

“We’ve been able to manage demand,” Bosch-Hastings said.

People seeking shelter with pets have been housed at the Lawrence Community Shelter, where pets are required to be muzzled. Pets have included dogs and cats — and even a snake, Bosch-Hastings said.

The city has designated a pet-specific shelter at Jesus Community Church of the Nazarene, where pet owners and their animal companions could stay in tents set up in the building, but that site has not been available due to staffing shortages.

“If we had more volunteers, we could expand our capacity and better serve individuals with pets,” Bosch-Hastings said, but for now, when someone with a pet requires shelter, the Homeless Solutions Division is getting creative about accommodating them at the Lawrence Community Shelter, which has taken in every individual with pets so far.

For those wanting to help, Bosch-Hastings said her team could especially use more volunteers to assist with shelter operations. Additionally, donations of cold-weather gear such as gloves, hats, warm socks, hand warmers and blankets are always appreciated. Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can reach out to the participating churches or to the Lawrence Community Shelter directly at (785) 832-8864.

As for food, Bosch-Hastings said that some residents and organizations had been generously meeting that need with donated meals.

Bosch-Hastings said she was grateful that “I am doing this work here where the community is supportive of it” and where there’s the “political will” to care for people who need it.

She said last week that the unofficial results of the annual Point in Time, or PIT, Count represented a “promising shift” in the effort to end chronic homelessness. The count, conducted one night last month, found that the Lawrence area had about 100 fewer people experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the night of the PIT Count than it did last year — 43 vs. 142, or about a 70% drop.

The count found that the number of people experiencing sheltered homelessness increased by 48 individuals from 2024 to 2025, a 35% rise, but the city said this shift represented people who have moved from unsheltered homelessness into shelters like the Lawrence Community Shelter, noting that while they are still homeless, they are in a safer environment with access to services that support their path to permanent housing.