Emergency Housing Assistance: What to Do Tonight

Last checked: November 4, 2026. Benefits Explorer is a private directory, not a government agency. We don't take applications, place people in shelters, or decide who gets help. Report a mistake.

If This Is About Your Safety

• Leaving abuse: call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. It says it is free, confidential and open 24/7. Deaf Hotline video phone: 855-812-1001. You can also search for a domestic violence program near you, a site HUD points to.
• Thinking about suicide, or in emotional crisis: call or text 988, or chat through the 988 website. The 988 Lifeline says it is free, confidential and open 24/7.
• Veteran with no place to stay: call the VA's National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 1-877-424-3838, open 24/7.

If you live in HUD-assisted housing and are escaping abuse, HUD explains your rights under the Violence Against Women Act, including asking for an emergency transfer. This is general information, not legal advice. Ask 211 for local legal aid.

What to Say When You Call 211

HUD tells people who need help now to start with 211. HUD funds local groups, but it doesn't place people itself. 211 says every call is confidential. You can say:

• "I have no safe place to stay tonight. What shelter is open near me?"
• Your ZIP code or the area you're in, and who is with you, such as children or pets.
• If you're a veteran, a young person, have a disability, or are leaving abuse. Some programs are only for certain groups.
• "Who runs coordinated entry here, and how do I get assessed?"
• "If there's no shelter bed, does anyone here give out hotel or motel vouchers?"
• "How do I get there tonight?"

Phone menus change and differ by place, so check your state below. If the menu doesn't match, stay on the line or ask for homeless services. You can also search HUD's Find Shelter tool. Call a place before you travel, because a listing doesn't mean a bed is open tonight.

How Coordinated Entry Works

A Continuum of Care, or CoC, is a regional or local planning body for homeless housing and services. HUD requires each CoC to run a coordinated entry process, which is one shared way into local homeless housing and services. This is what usually happens:

1. You reach an access point. It might be a central office, a 211 or hotline, or any local provider.
2. Someone assesses your situation. They ask about your housing and your needs.
3. Your need is ranked. HUD says people with more severe needs should come first where possible. It isn't first come, first served.
4. You may be referred to a program that fits and has room. This isn't a promise of housing.

Shelter tonight is separate. HUD's notice says emergency shelters and domestic violence hotlines should have as few barriers to entry as possible. It also says people must be able to reach emergency services when coordinated entry's offices are closed. If the office is closed, keep calling 211 or the shelter. HUD issued this notice in January 2017, and local rules differ.

It goes by different names. HUD's state pages call it a Coordinated Access Network in Connecticut, a Housing Assessment Resource Agency in Michigan, Regional Access Points in Rhode Island, and Centralized Intake in Delaware. Ask for whichever name your area uses.

How to Reach Your Local CoC

1. Open HUD's page for your state below and look under Homelessness. Many list local lines or a link to a homeless service provider.
2. Ask 211, "Who runs coordinated entry in my county?"

HUD also keeps a CoC contact directory on its HUD Exchange website. That site gave a "page not found" error for every page we tried on November 4, 2026, so we aren't linking to it. Some HUD state pages still link there, so you may hit the same error. If you do, use 211.

Can You Still Get an Emergency Housing Voucher?

No. New families can't get one. HUD told housing agencies in March 2025 to stop issuing these vouchers to new families. A HUD notice from September 29, 2026 says the program will end once current families are moved to a different voucher, which is due by the end of December 2026. Those new vouchers can't be reissued when a family leaves.

If you have an Emergency Housing Voucher now, ask your housing agency what happens to yours. HUD's notice covers families under lease on September 30, 2026, and says funding after December 2026 depends on future appropriations.

Regular Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) are still run by local housing agencies, but they aren't fast help for tonight. HUD says waiting lists are long and you may need to apply to more than one. Find your housing authority to ask whether its list is open.

What a Hotel Voucher Really Is

A hotel or motel voucher is a local agency paying for a room when it has no shelter space for you. HUD's Emergency Solutions Grants rule allows this cost "where no appropriate emergency shelter is available" for a homeless family or person.

That rule lets an agency pay for a room. It doesn't give anyone a right to one, and there may be none where you are on a given night. We found no national hotel voucher program to apply to, and we can't tell you one is available where you are. The way to find out is to ask 211 or the shelter's intake staff.

Watch Out for Scams

Be careful if anyone asks for a fee, a gift card, or your Social Security number to "hold" a voucher or a place on a list. Emergency Housing Vouchers aren't being given to new families, so an offer of one is a warning sign. Check with 211 or your local housing authority first. Benefits Explorer never asks you for money or personal information to get housing help.

Still in Your Home?

If you still have housing but are behind on rent or facing eviction, see our rent assistance guide or use the rent help link for your state below. Don't ignore a notice or court papers. See eviction help and deadlines by state, and ask 211 for local legal aid right away, because deadlines can be short. Looking for federal ERAP or CARES Act money? That has ended. Found a new place but can't cover move-in costs? See security deposit help.

What HUD Says to Do First in Your State

This comes from HUD's page for each state, read on November 4, 2026. Two rows, New York and North Carolina, add a local line and name its source. Numbers can change. If one doesn't work, use 211 or the 211 finder.

Sources (checked November 4, 2026):

• HUD: Contact Us, Homelessness section
• HUD: Helping Americans
• HUD: Find Shelter
• HUD Notice CPD-17-01: Coordinated Entry
• HUD Notice PIH 2026-25: Emergency Housing Voucher families
• 24 CFR 576.102: Emergency shelter component (Cornell Law School)
• HUD: Housing Choice Vouchers for tenants
• HUD: Violence Against Women Act
• 211.org
• National Domestic Violence Hotline
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
• VA: National Call Center for Homeless Veterans
• City of Charlotte: Emergency Housing Assistance
• Ulster County: Emergency Assistance
• HUD state pages, linked in the table above