What you need to know
Anyone looking to stay at a shelter overnight can register at the One Texas Center offices, located at 505 Barton Springs Road, Austin, daily between 6-8 p.m. The One Texas Center serves as the city's central loading point for transportation to the shelters in partnership with Capital Metro, and after-hours services will be available outside of the main registration period.
The city office tower is accessible via CapMetro bus routes 1, 7, 10, 20, 30, 105, 142 and 801. The transit agency said anyone in need of shelter will be given a ride to the facility, regardless of ability to pay fares.
Shelter guests can bring personal belongings and pets that can be transported on a bus, and dinner and breakfast or snacks are provided at the facility. Women and couples can be accommodated separately, depending on capacity, while the city will provide vouchers to cover the cost of a hotel stay for families with children and unaccompanied minors.
The city's cold weather shelters are mainly used by those experiencing homelessness, but anyone in need of a warming center can register. Information about the shelters is available by calling the city hotline at 512-972-5055.
General emergency information from the city is available online, and Austinites can get more emergency preparedness tips and sign up for alerts through Ready Central Texas.
Also of note
While overnight shelter locations aren't publicly released, dozens of city facilities like libraries and recreation centers also serve as warming centers during daily operating hours. Travis County community centers are also open as warming centers during regular hours.
Austin's cold weather shelter activations, managed by the city Homeless Strategy Office and the Austin Area Urban League, now take place whenever overnight temperatures at Camp Mabry are forecasted to dip to 35 degrees or below. The city adjusted its shelter policies in the fall to simplify the process and allow for advance notice of activations when cold weather is anticipated.
