Can a family with both parents check into a homeless shelter?

Some homeless shelters, such as the Salvation Army, accept families of any composition in addition to single people. Other homeless shelters, such as Nicholas House, focus on serving families exclusively.

Shelters that specialize in services for families not only provide emergency services but also utilize transitional services to help those families achieve independence. Some homeless shelters serving families also have transitional apartment housing available to homeless couples and give families time in those apartments to build up savings, go through job training and find career opportunities that allow them to form routines that lead out of the cycle of homelessness.