Homeless residents urge Scranton to reopen shelter space, explore tiny homes and improve Code Blue planning

Scranton — People experiencing homelessness and advocates used the council podium Tuesday to press for more shelter capacity, clearer Code Blue planning and for the city to involve unhoused residents in solution design.

Tyler Wharton, identifying himself as a homeless individual who has lived in multiple cities, described sparse shelter availability in Lackawanna County: "The Olive Street Shelter only has, like, 25 men's beds and, like, 4 women's beds," he said, and said he had heard of camps being cleared during winter. He urged the council to work with people who live outside to design realistic solutions and proposed tiny homes on trailers and localized trash programs to reduce cleanup costs.

Tom Coyne and other speakers criticized the pace of efforts to identify a Code Blue shelter operator after Keystone’s June closure and said larger venues such as Western Field should be considered to expand capacity. Coyne also said a turkey giveaway earlier that day lacked sufficient publicity and called for more proactive planning rather than last‑minute responses when cold weather approaches.

Councilors acknowledged the concerns and directed administration staff to continue discussions with the mayor's office and relevant departments. The clerk said staff would follow up with the administration about enforcement of campsite removals and the status of plans for shelters and Code Blue operations.

What’s next: Administration agreed to report back to council with status updates on shelter capacity, Code Blue arrangements and any proposals to pilot tiny‑home or other alternatives.