Y2Y Expands Shelter Services During Winter Storm Fern
Graphic by Chau Nguyen
Winter Storm Fern swept across the East Coast from Jan. 25-26, covering Boston in nearly two feet of snow and plunging temperatures into the single digits. Y2Y, Harvard Square’s youth homeless shelter, expanded both its hours of operation and its overnight capacity to ensure unhoused adolescents had a safe, warm place to stay. Undergraduate staff and volunteers covered extra shifts during the storm, allowing Y2Y to accommodate 29 guests 24/7 during the emergency.
During the winter months, exposure poses heightened risks for unhoused individuals. Following Fern, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reported that seven out of ten people found dead outdoors were experiencing homelessness. Although Boston’s homeless population is not as large as New York City’s, there were still 5,506 people experiencing homelessness in Boston according to the 2025 Homeless Census.
Y2Y student director Necati Unsal ’26 shared how the shelter’s response to Fern was guided by an established emergency weather policy which allows it to remain open during the day. “The policy takes effect immediately as soon as we know about the emergency,” Unsal said to the Independent.
Despite many Harvard students still traveling back to campus during Winter Recess the weekend of the storm, Y2Y was nonetheless able to find students to accommodate the adjusted schedule. “Honestly, we had some initial worries, but thankfully staff and volunteers really turned out,” he said. “Staff more generally, not just from Harvard, turned out too.”
Located in the basement of the First Parish Church at 1 Church St., Y2Y is America’s first youth-led homeless shelter designed to welcome unhoused 18- to 24-year-olds. The shelter typically has 22 beds, comprising approximately half of the youth-tailored accommodations in the Greater Boston Area. Usually opening its doors from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m., the shelter offers overnight accommodations along with meals, showers, laundry facilities, clothing, and storage. Y2Y also prides itself on being an LGBTQ+-inclusive space.
Y2Y was founded by two members of Harvard’s Class of 2014 who noticed that there were more volunteers available at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter than needed, and there was a lack of overnight shelter options for unhoused young adults specifically. Y2Y opened its doors in 2015, and since then, its volunteers and staff have expanded to include graduate students, faculty, community members, and activists alongside undergraduates.
Twelve years later, Y2Y operates as a Phillips Brooks House Association-affiliated organization that not only offers shelter but also social-emotional resources. Volunteers assist guests in navigating available services, including resource navigation, legal services, medical care, mental health clinicians, drop-in service providers, referrals to other organizations, and resume and job search support.
However, the services necessitated by Winter Storm Fern were unprecedented.
“We were able to anticipate the winter emergency the Friday before it was officially declared and sent out staffing requests as a result,” Unsal continued. “Since our typical shifts are in the evening and overnight, we added three additional shifts—from 9 a.m. to noon, noon to 3 p.m., and 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.—for Sunday and Monday, and those requests were filled almost immediately by staff.”
According to the shelter’s policy director, Aran Sonnad-Joshi ’26, Y2Y was able to increase its capacity to the contractual maximum and paused its lottery system. With this system, guests are admitted for 1-night or 30-night stays using a randomized electronic lottery, meaning the 1-night guests would typically have to leave in the morning. “This prevented our normal turnover, which allowed us to house as many guests as possible without forcing guests to leave during a snowstorm if their stays ended,” he explained.
Apart from ensuring all guests have a designated bed, Y2Y also coordinated with their landlord, First Parish Church, in order to handle snow and ice buildup outside the church to ensure safe access for guests and staff. Food supplemented by donations and leftovers allowed the shelter to continue providing meals to their guests throughout the storm.
Beyond the immediate response, recent national debates over homelessness policy and funding emphasize the importance of local resources like Y2Y that can step in, especially during times of emergency. Moves by the Trump Administration have shifted money away from long-term housing solutions and towards transitional housing. Over half of the 2026 fiscal funding for the Continuum of Care program was cut. According to The National Homelessness Law Center, these changes will force about 170,000 people, many of whom are seniors and those with disabilities, back onto the street.
In Boston, the Trump Administration’s new restrictions to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care program threaten permanent housing and supportive services for more than 2,000 households each year. The proposed changes would require Boston to eliminate approximately $29 million in permanent supportive housing funding, potentially pushing more individuals and families back into homelessness during the winter months. In May, Boston joined cities across the country in suing the Trump Administration over unlawful cuts to homelessness funding. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the cuts, and the appeal is pending.
Olivia Lunseth ’28 (olivialunseth@college.harvard.edu) writes News for the Harvard Independent.