Unsheltered Homelessness in St. Paul
Why Are People Sleeping Outside When Shelter is Available?
Beginning July 20, 2026, Catholic Charities Twin Cities expanded capacity at the Higher Ground Saint Paul Shelter ahead of the City of St. Paul’s planned closure of a large encampment at Pig’s Eye Park. Working in partnership with Ramsey County, we added 49 shelter beds to ensure that more people experiencing homelessness would have a safe place to stay indoors.
Since the encampment closure, demand for daytime services at Catholic Charities Dorothy Day campus has increased, with more people seeking meals, laundry, and other supportive services. However, only a handful of the people forced to leave the Pig’s Eye Park encampment have accessed overnight shelter in the past few weeks — most others have chosen to remain outside despite the availability of beds.
This pattern is not unique to St. Paul. The decision to leave an encampment is often more complicated than it may appear, despite significant risks associated with living outside. For many individuals, it can mean leaving a chosen community or splitting up from a loved one because shelter bunks are only able to accommodate single adults. It may mean discarding valued belongings, because you’re only able to bring in what you can carry. It can mean following rules designed to keep a large number of people safe inside, but that don’t necessarily prioritize individual freedom.
We know trust takes time to build, which is why temporary shelter expansion is only one part of the solution.
Removing Barriers to Shelter
At Catholic Charities Twin Cities, we continually look for ways to make our shelters more accessible.
When we hear that something is preventing people from coming inside, we ask whether there is a safe and responsible way to reduce that barrier. The easier it is to access shelter, the more likely people are to take that first step indoors. Over time, we’ve made changes that reflect what people experiencing homelessness tell us they need:
Beds Available to Anyone in Need
Adding 49 additional beds to the congregate shelter spaces at Higher Ground St. Paul Shelter was the most cost-effective way to serve up to 292 people experiencing homelessness. Catholic Charities will submit for reimbursement for costs associated with the shelter expansion on a monthly basis; up to a maximum $969,500 total by the end of the contract in June 2027. That means that the bed-per-night cost is estimated to be around $54. Congregate shelters quickly respond to urgent need, connect people with housing resources, and maximize limited public and philanthropic funding.
Ramsey County’s Shelter Entry & Diversion Team manages reservations for all Catholic Charities shelter beds in Ramsey County, and we’ve worked together to make all open beds available to anyone experiencing homelessness, not just individuals living in encampments. We typically see more open beds during the summer when it’s not as dangerous to sleep outside, and the average overnight low since the Pig’s Eye Park encampment was closed on August 5, 2026, has been 64.4°F. People begin to struggle to regulate their body temperature around 50°F; as colder weather arrives, we expect to see these beds fill up.
Partnering to Build Trust
Catholic Charities is developing outreach strategies in partnership with community providers to engage directly with people living in encampments.
Outreach is a key method of providing information about available shelter options, answering questions, addressing misconceptions, and helping people understand what they can expect if they choose to come inside.
Many people who have endured homelessness for months or years have experienced systems that failed them. Building confidence in shelter services often requires multiple conversations and a consistent presence over time.
Catholic Charities will continue working with and learning from the experts currently leading outreach efforts to help meet community need.
What Needs to Happen Next
This process has reinforced an important lesson: our community must invest in our shared homelessness-to-housing continuum to allow for approaches that better meet the diverse needs of people experiencing homelessness.
We need to listen to the perspectives of people with lived experience to shape future solutions, including expanding options for people staying outside, stabilizing existing shelter infrastructure, and ensuring easier access to permanent housing.
Catholic Charities is committed to providing safe shelter today while leading conversations about how our community can do better tomorrow. The challenge before us is not simply creating more shelter beds. It is building a system that effectively supports people on pathways to stability.
