Pittsburgh leaders set aside another building to house homeless amid push to shut down encampments

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey held a press conference on Monday about his plan for homeless housing, addressing the work that’s already been done and his plans to convert new spaces into places for the unhoused.

During this first phase, Gainey said the city has worked with Allegheny County and its Department of Human Services.

Gainey said in 2024, 16 homeless people who lived on trails died.

“We were forced to space people out of shelters and ultimately pushed people outside,” Gainey said. “Not having a safe, dignified space to call home is a hard way for anybody to live – anybody. And not anything any human should be subjected to.”

Gainey says his goal is to have all people experiencing homelessness off the river trails by this winter. The city has already moved 100 people indoors.

Channel 11 also learned of a new facility on the North Side at the former McNaugher School in Perry South.

As Channel 11 has previously reported, the city has already changed the former Vincentian De Marillac nursing home facility in Stanton Heights into transitional housing. City officials say right now there are 40 beds they expect people to soon move into. The city also plans to add 50 transitional housing units and says 20 more beds will be coming in the new year.

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Gainey says this facility is different from previous emergency shelters.

“Your bed is your bed. Once you are given a bed the bed is your bed,” he said. “It’s not a place people are asked to leave at 7 a.m. in the morning and then report back in line each and every day to have a spot.”

Gainey says these moves give the homeless a pathway to safety and dignity and there will be county support services helping them out along the way.

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