Harvard Square Homeless Shelter
The summer shelter is open June 10th to August 8th, 2024.
Harvard Square Homeless Shelter
The summer shelter is open June 10th to August 8th, 2024.
The summer shelter is open June 10th to August 8th, 2024.
The summer shelter is open June 10th to August 8th, 2024.
Fill out the form below to enter the 2024 Summer lottery.
The summer season will run from June 10, 2024 to August 8, 2024. Staff will be in contact with an assigned lottery number before the next lottery date. Make sure to check your spam folder!
IMPORTANT: You must resubmit this form every month to remain on the waitlist! The July list is now open.
If you have won a bed, you must enter the shelter before 11:30PM on Sunday, July 28th.
Please be aware clients will only have access to their bed until August 8.
If you'd like to remain on the waitlist for the month of July, you must fill out the lottery form again. You will receive a new lottery number.
Please contact us if you have any questions. Our email is hshs.waitlist@gmail.com, and our phone number is (888) 285-4038.
HSHS will be operating a regular lottery for open beds throughout the 2024 summer season. Clients who win a bed will be able to stay with us for the entire summer season. This season will run from June 10th, 2024 - August 8th, 2024. After the summer season, the shelter will be closed until mid October. As a seasonal shelter, HSHS should be a last resort: guests should accept other forms of shelter such as longer-term beds, transitional housing, or staying with a family member before accepting a bed at HSHS.
Please read below for the full lottery process.
Please also note that HSHS is a dry shelter.
The first lottery (prior to season opening) will run at 9:00 AM on Saturday, June 8th. Once the season begins, lottery results will be posted every Monday and Thursday at 8:00am (only as beds become available) beginning on Thursday, June 13th.
Upon applying, you will receive a number, which will be your assigned number for that month's lotteries, but does not correlate to a ranking in any way. Winners will be drawn randomly from the waitlist, which is unranked.
The winning lottery numbers will be posted on the shelter’s door, on our voicemail message, and on this website. Winners will also be notified via phone or email.
For the first lottery, you must accept your bed by 5:00PM on Monday, June 10, or your bed will be lotteried to another client. For future lotteries, please accept your bed before the following lottery date at 8:00AM (for example, if you are informed that you have won a bed on Monday, you must arrive by Wednesday night or your bed will be lotteried to another client).
You will be automatically placed onto our unranked waitlist. Lotteries will run every Monday and Thursday as beds open up. If no beds are available, no lottery will be run. IMPORTANT: On the first of every month, the waitlist will be reset. You must fill out the lottery entrance form (online or paper) again each month in order to be eligible to win a bed. Clients who were previously on the waitlist will be contacted monthly via email as a reminder to re-fill out the form. Please note: clients will be given a new number upon reentry. This number is like an ID, not a ranking.
Note: If the first of the month is a Monday or Thursday, staff will pull from the previous month's list for that lottery date only.
The HSHS Case Management Directors have compiled this Info Sheet with information about accessing other emergency shelters, transitional housing, IDs, clothing, food, and more. Let us know if there is anything you would like us to add using the Info Sheet Feedback form linked Here, and please reach out to radirector.hshs@gmail.com with any questions!
We are located in the basement of University Lutheran Church at 66 Winthrop Street in Cambridge, MA.
SHELTER HOURS: Every night from 7:00pm - 8:00am (9:00am on Saturdays)
CONTACT INFORMATION:
If you are interested in staying at HSHS, contact hshs.waitlist@gmail.com.
For questions about volunteering at HSHS, contact hshs.volunteer@gmail.com.
For questions about supply donation to HSHS, contact hshs.donation@gmail.com.
For all general inquiries, please contact hshs.info@gmail.com.
Shelter Phone: (888) 285-4038
This phone line is not always monitored outside of shelter hours, so email is preferred.
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