If you have nowhere to stay tonight, there is help in New Haven. Emergency shelters serve single adults, women and children, and families, and homeless-services offices can connect you to a bed and to longer-term housing support.
Most year-round shelters in New Haven fill their beds through 2-1-1 and Connecticut's Coordinated Access Network, not by people calling or showing up at the door. 2-1-1 answers any time, but its housing team books shelter during the day, and a call often leads to an assessment or a waitlist rather than a bed that night. The resources below are the shelters and housing-help options in our New Haven directory.
Resource details below come from the live directory. Call the provider to confirm hours, openings, and eligibility before you go.
Who can get help
Emergency shelter is for anyone who has nowhere safe to stay. Different shelters serve different groups (single men, single women, women with children, families), so the listing or 211 can point you to the right one. You do not need ID or money to call, though some shelters ask for ID at intake.
Shelters and housing help in New Haven
Beulah Heights Social Integration Program
Beulah Heights Church
Beulah Heights Social Integration Program provides meals, food-pantry appointments and support for people experiencing homelessness or returning from incarceration. Its Morning Manna program serves ho…
Christian Community Action
CCA
New Haven nonprofit offering food, housing support and case management. New HOPE housing accepts referrals from a case manager, social worker or counselor.
Columbus House - Healthcare Access
Columbus House
Columbus House connects people experiencing homelessness with healthcare and offers a medical respite program for people leaving the hospital. A current general walk-in clinic schedule at the shelter …
Columbus House Emergency Shelter
Columbus House
Emergency shelter and housing services for individuals experiencing homelessness. Provides meals, case management, and connections to permanent housing.
Community Action Agency of New Haven - Emergency Assistance
CAANH
CAANH connects people with housing support, benefits applications and other services. Passport Transitional Services (PTS) helps New Haven residents who are unsheltered or have a notice to quit or evi…
Connecticut Fair Housing Center - Eviction Help
Connecticut Fair Housing Center
Fair-housing organization offering tenant resources and an online Eviction Guide and Form Filler. Tenants facing eviction can use its legal-aid referrals and the Connecticut Right to Counsel eligibili…
Continuum of Care - Crisis Services
Continuum of Care Inc
Short-term residential crisis stabilization and respite for adults with mental-health or substance-use needs. Services include 24-hour care, case management, peer support and connections to ongoing tr…
Continuum of Care Emergency Housing
Continuum of Care Inc
Emergency housing at 270 Foxon Boulevard for adults, including single people and families. Provides meals, showers, laundry, clothing, clinical support and help finding housing. Staff are on site 24 h…
Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK)
DESK
Meals at several downtown locations, a Wednesday grocery pantry, and a daytime Drop-In & Resource Center offering basic needs and connections to shelter, housing and income assistance. The State Stree…
Get Connected New Haven - Online Resource Directory
City of New Haven
An online directory for finding New Haven food, housing, healthcare, employment and other community resources. The City of New Haven and United Way partners use 2-1-1 resource information to help resi…
Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven
Habitat for Humanity
Homeownership preparation program and affordable home construction. Also operates ReStore selling discounted furniture, appliances, and building materials to fund housing projects.
Hillside Family Shelter
Christian Community Action
CCA family shelter with 17 furnished apartments. Families with children enter through Coordinated Access Network referrals and receive help working toward permanent housing.
HOPWA Housing Assistance
City of New Haven
Housing assistance and related support for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. Depending on the local program, help may include rent, mortgage or utility assistance and housing …
Liberty Community Services - Rapid Rehousing
Liberty Community Services
Short-term rental assistance with case management to help people move from homelessness into community housing. Assistance can last up to 12 months, with the goal that the tenant can afford the housin…
Life Haven - Women & Children Shelter
New Reach
Emergency shelter for mothers and children, with case management and support toward permanent housing. New Reach coordinates access through Connecticut’s shelter and housing referral system.
How to get started
Call 2-1-1 first
Say you need emergency shelter. Call during the day if you can, when the housing team books beds. The questions they ask are the assessment that puts you on the list for a bed.
Use a different door if one fits
Fleeing abuse: call or text CT Safe Connect at 1-888-774-2900, any time. Under 18: call the National Runaway Safeline at 1-800-786-2929. Veterans: call 1-877-424-3838. In winter, warming centers take adults without a 2-1-1 call.
Get connected to housing help
Homeless-services offices can start you on rental assistance and housing programs while you are in shelter, so ask about next steps.
Common questions
Where can I sleep tonight in New Haven?
Call 2-1-1 and ask for emergency shelter. Most shelters here take only people referred through 2-1-1, so calling or visiting a shelter directly usually does not get you a bed. If 2-1-1 cannot place you tonight, ask about warming centers (in winter) and street outreach.
Do I need ID to get into a shelter?
You do not need ID to call and ask for help. Some shelters request ID at intake, but a missing document should not stop you from reaching out. Ask what they accept.
I am in immediate danger. What should I do?
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you are fleeing abuse, call or text CT Safe Connect at 1-888-774-2900 any time; it reaches confidential domestic violence shelters directly. For a mental-health crisis, call or text 988.
Related help guides
Not sure where to start, or do not see what you need?