As we prepare in the DC area for what’s expected to be our first big snowfall of the season, many of the area’s homeless population will find themselves without adequate shelter; here are some phone numbers that every local resident should keep handy so that they can request assistance for anyone they see who might need it during the upcoming weeks.
DC’s hypothermia hotline is the model that all other local jurisdictions should seek to emulate; if you see a homeless person in need of assistance inside the District, just call their hotline and they will send someone out to provide them with blankets, gloves, etc., as well as transportation to the nearest shelter if needed.
- DC Hypothermia Hotline: 800-535-7252
Unfortunately, most Northern Virginia jurisdictions appear to rely solely on individual (often privately-run) shelters to assist with hypothermia during the winter and do not have any sort of specific centralized hotline that you can call. In our experience, however, calls in those jurisdictions to the local non-emergency police numbers will usually result in an officer at least checking on the person in need of assistance and often assisting in getting them to shelter. Those non-emergency police numbers are:
- Alexandria Non-Emergency Police: 703-838-4444
- Arlington County Non-Emergency Police: 240-777-4000
- Fairfax County Non-Emergency Police: 703-691-2131
- Falls Church Non-Emergency Police: 703-241-5053
Local Maryland jurisdictions do have centralized hotlines, but the staffs at those hotlines often can’t assist in the pickup of people in need, so we are providing the numbers for both the hotlines and the local non-emergency police dispatchers:
- Montgomery County Community Crisis Center: 240-777-4000
- Montgomery County Non-Emergency Police: 301-279-8000
- Prince George’s County Homeless Hotline: 888-731-0999
- Prince George’s County Non-Emergency Police: 301-333-4000
(These are the contact numbers for the jurisdictions closest to Washington DC; if you know of the appropriate contact info for other jurisdictions in the Metro DC area, please let us know and we would be glad to add them to this page.)
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