Second Avenue Commons is poised to reopen next week after a fire took the county’s primary low-barrier homeless shelter offline for nearly five months.
About 180 residents and their pets were displaced in June, when a three-alarm fire on the building’s roof caused heavy smoke and water damage throughout the facility. More than 90 residents are expected to return on Oct. 28.
“I didn't think we would get back in this quickly. I really didn't,” said Tony Beltran, president and CEO of Pittsburgh Mercy, one of the service providers at the shelter.
Officials have contended with supply-chain issues and the logistics of moving and housing a large group of people on short notice. Just hours after the fire, a makeshift shelter space was established at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Some former residents later moved to a gymnasium at Pittsburgh Mercy’s Reedsdale Street facility.
The first three floors of the facility will open first. They offer a 93-bed shelter space, medical clinic, and an engagement center that offers housing and supportive services, grab-and-go lunches, laundry and showers, among other things. The engagement center will also have expanded hours, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.
The center’s top two floors, which hold single room occupancy units, are expected to take longer to repair.
Elected leaders praised the efforts to resume services at a press event Thursday.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said that with the reopening, people experiencing homelessness “will have a home. They will have somewhere that they can come and get a warm meal, get the services that they need, get everything that they need in order to strengthen and build their life.”
“We have been able to mobilize the tools and resources in record time to get this place back up and running,” said Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato. And, she noted, “It's coming at a critical moment when the weather is turning and we're seeing more and more of our neighbors need help.”
Since it first opened in 2022, Second Avenue Commons has provided a central place for people experiencing homelessness to receive services.
“Nothing can really replace this building,” said Dr. Anita Leon-Jhong, medical director of the UPMC clinic at the facility.
“It's so unique. It's amazing because, you know, when we encounter somebody who needs really any type of assistance, we can just say, ‘Come to Second Avenue Commons and they'll be able to help you.’ Whether it's health, whether it's housing, if they just need a meal, if they need somewhere to sleep. And so I think that that facility is just irreplaceable.”
On Nov. 15, an additional 40 beds will be made available at Second Avenue Commons’ winter overflow shelter.
Find a full list of the county’s drop-in & engagement centers and shelter locations for single adults here. To access family shelters, contact the Allegheny LINK at 1-866-730-2368.
