Lisa Spano was evicted from her apartment during the pandemic and has spent the last four and a half years without a home.
She lived on the streets until she began occupying one of the dozens of temporary shelters that the city of Greensboro has operated since 2023. The shelters, which are made by Seattle-based company Pallet, are insulated, heated, pop-up structures that house up to two people. They come equipped with beds, shelves, and some storage space. Residents of the community also have access to running showers and privacy. This winter, when it gets cold, Spano will be safe. But her friend, Michael Pickett, may not be so lucky.
This year, the city is changing its winter sheltering plans. In the past, it has opened shelters with beds at recreation centers and churches. The city also opens warming centers—or “white flag” locations without beds—as resting places when the temperature drops below 32 degrees.
According to national data, hundreds of unhoused people die each year due to the cold. And the number of people experiencing homelessness overall has been increasing over the last several years.
This year, instead of spending money on opening winter shelters, the city has decided to spend its funds on expanding the Pallet community, adding additional shelters and RVs to increase the number of beds to 125.
A Difference in Operations
The shift from operating winter shelters to expanding the Pallet program hasn’t come without some criticism.
Some IRC visitors say it can be a challenge to get into those shelters. Spano says that the 9 p.m. curfew is another barrier.
Brian Hahne, the CEO of Greensboro Urban Ministry, which ran the winter shelters last year, said they worked well in the past.
In 2024, the Greensboro Urban Ministry used city funding to partner with four area churches, which provided a total of 57 beds throughout the winter. That amounted to about 100 people who had access to a warm bed from November to January. The program cost $425,000.
Part of the success of last year’s operation was the fact that collaborations blossomed between the Urban Ministry and the churches, Hahne said.
“We didn’t do it all at one location,” he said. “We really pulled in a lot of folks who cared about the needs of the clients, and we connected them into the community. They were a part of something more than a bed.”
Each location also had night staff, on-site case management, and volunteers who helped out.
While the number of beds this year is expected to be about double compared to 2024, all of them will be at Pomona Park, where the Pallet community is located.
The winter program this year will cost $100,000, less than a quarter of last year’s cost, according to Bennita Curtain, executive director of the Interactive Resource Center, which will run this year’s program. That amount will cover two case managers and 24/7 staffing onsite, according to the city.
The cost will cover about 100 beds and the program will run from December through March, Curtain said.
This year’s program is a lot more affordable, said Andrea Harrell, assistant city manager.
“It cost us $425,000 to do those emergency shelters [last year],” she said. “That was a lot of money and is not sustainable.”
She adds that having everyone located at one place will ensure better case management.
“We’re looking at ways to not overburden the community,” she said. “We’re streamlining case management.”
But Hahne says that while last year’s price tag may have been high, the work is necessary.
Two case managers for 100 people this year just doesn’t seem like enough, Hahne said, and will lead to fewer supportive services.
The city realizes two case managers aren’t enough, Harrell said, and will hire more staff.
“It’s not that this was a contentious decision,” she said of changing the program. “We were just reacting to some feedback and reacting to funding.”
‘We Need More Housing’
Michell Farrar currently lives in a Pallet shelter, but has used the winter shelters in the past.
She currently works about 30 hours a week at UNCG in food service and is working on transitioning to permanent housing. She sees other people who need support, too.
“We need more housing,” she said.
Like other cities across the U.S., Greensboro has been working on increasing its affordable housing stock. In 2020, the city announced its 10-year Housing GSO strategy. In February, Greensboro City Manager Trey Davis announced “The Road to 10,000,” which aims to create an additional 10,000 units by 2030.
According to the project’s live dashboard, nearly 1,000 homes have been constructed and another 1,400 are under construction.
The plan includes increasing the supply of quality rental homes for low-income renters, expanding opportunities for low and moderate-income homeownership, and providing housing and rental assistance to vulnerable populations like the unhoused.
In the end, temporary shelters, winter shelters, and warming centers aren’t enough to curb the problem, said Tywon Turner, a city resident who visits family at the IRC from time to time.
“People don’t need shelter, they need actual homes,” Turner said. “They need a solid and stable place to stay.”
Spano says she’d like to see a mix of both, she said. She pointed to abandoned buildings and unoccupied office space around town. When the weather drops this year, some people will be forced to break into them to survive.
“The city should have enough money to open them up,” Spano said.
Spano, who is going into her second year in the Pallet community, used to go to recreation centers during the winter to stay warm. Now, she’s working on finding an apartment, both for herself and for Pickett.
“I worry about him being outside and being in the cold,” she said. “Where are people going to go who can’t get in the shelters?”
Correction: An earlier version of this story conflated Greensboro’s 2020 housing plan with its “Road to 10,000” initiative, which was announced in February 2025.