The City of Scranton’s Code Blue shelter at the Weston Field House, 982 Providence Rd., will be staffed and operated this fall and winter by Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton, both agencies announced on Thurs., Nov. 13, 2025.
“We are proud to continue providing a Code Blue shelter here at Weston Field,” Scranton Mayor Paige G. Cognetti said. “The City and each of the partner organizations in our Unsheltered Task Force, which includes Catholic Social Services, remain committed to addressing the changing needs of those without stable housing in Scranton.”
Joe Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Social Services, emphasized the organization’s long-standing commitment to serving those in need in Scranton and across northeastern Pennsylvania.
“At Catholic Social Services, we see each person who comes through our doors as a neighbor deserving of dignity, compassion and hope,” Mahoney said. “For decades, our agency has operated an emergency shelter and other outreach programs in Scranton, and we are honored to continue that mission by partnering with the City to provide warmth and safety at the Code Blue shelter, ensuring all our brothers and sisters experiencing homelessness have a place to go during the coldest nights of the year.”
For more than 30 years, Catholic Social Services has operated Saint Anthony’s Haven, 409 Olive Street, Scranton’s only year-round emergency shelter for men and women experiencing homelessness. The facility is open to all adult (18+) individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity or religious affiliation – and can accommodate 20 men and six women each night. In addition to providing emergency overnight shelter, Saint Anthony’s Haven provides guests with two meals per day, shower and laundry facilities and supportive services. During 2024, Saint Anthony’s Haven served 549 individuals, providing a total of 5,567 nights of individual shelter.
A “Code Blue Alert” is issued when temperatures in Scranton are expected to drop below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. These alerts tell residents that extremely cold conditions will impact the City of Scranton and warn everyone, especially those most vulnerable to cold weather like the homeless or elderly, about the severe cold.
The Department of Homeless Services and ReadyPA.gov also recommend that Code Blue Alerts be declared if snow predictions of 12 inches or more are in the forecast and any time that a combination of rain, sleet, snow, with temperatures of 32 degrees, with windchill, are forecasted.
Approximately 70 Code Blue Alerts were issued during the winter of 2024-25, with an average of about 15 people utilizing the Code Blue shelter at Weston Field each of those nights.
ABOUT THE CITY OF SCRANTON: Incorporated in 1866, the City of Scranton has a population of approximately 76,000 residents and is the sixth-largest municipality in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Scranton City Hall is located at 340 N. Washington Ave., Scranton, PA 18503. Residents requiring services should visit www.scrantonpa.gov
ABOUT MAYOR PAIGE G. COGNETTI: Paige G. Cognetti was sworn in as the 36th Mayor of Scranton in January 2020. Her administration is focused on driving economic growth, upgrading infrastructure, ensuring public safety, fostering government transparency and efficiency, and improving residents’ overall quality of life.
ABOUT CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES: Rooted in the Gospel, the mission of Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton is to serve individuals and families in poverty and hardship, as we are called by Christ to do, and to respond compassionately to their needs. As a Catholic agency, we advocate for individual dignity and self-sufficiency and actively give of ourselves to replace despair with hope. Throughout its network of emergency shelters, food and clothing pantries, kitchens and other social service programs, Catholic Social Services provides critical support and compassionate care to those in need across northeastern and north central Pennsylvania.
City of Scranton, Catholic Social Services Partnering for Code Blue Services | PDF
Last modified: November 21, 2025
