In Case of Homelessness During Cold Weather Emergency:

JANUARY 11 2026 Update:

Carroll County's Cold Weather Emergency Shelter Program — administered by the Way Station —  *has run out of funding* . If you are aware of people in need of resources, they will now need to contact local towns for emergency financial assistance, since the county funding is expended. 

Through the state-funded program, we provided over 1000 bed nights starting in December, due to extreme temperatures. This is comparable to what other areas of the state also experienced. Our funding is depleted. 

Sadly, all we can offer at this time, during regular Way Station business hours, will be camping gear and gas cards. We cannot place people in hotels anymore. Contact Dan Lavigne via 603.452.7113 if you camping gear. Since we aren't a 24/7 response system, we will not be out over the weekend, during the snow and extreme temps, providing gear. We have attempted to provide such items in advance to everyone we could reach.

If you have questions about the Cold Weather program, please contact Ann Cady @ 603.452.8428. She will refer you to someone else on the team if she cannot answer the question. 

(See update above) December 2026 Update :**UPDATE** Please use 603.452.8428 to reach our Cold Weather Program liaison Ann C. Leave a message or text if she isn't able to answer immediately.

Ann C. is taking calls into our DHHS-funded Cold Weather Emergency Response program. If you reach out through our main number, and talk with Dan, he will refer you over to Ann's number (above) to arrange sheklterwhen its available (weather-dependent and funding-dependent). The phone 603.452.8428 is monitored regularly, but we do not offer 24/7 emergency response service, so folks may experience delays between calls and responses. Especially if you call late evening/overnight, we may answer the next day.

For regular services from the Way Sation, please contact 603.452.7113.

Carroll County's Cold Weather Emergency Shelter Program — administered by the Way Station —   activates based on snowfall and single digit temp/windchill forecast. It is also dependent on funding. Full activation prioritizes our most vulnerable population. We focus first on people living outside (camping or entirely unsheltered) and then on folks living in vehicles or similar circumstances. Please use 603.452.8428 to reach our Cold Weather Program liaison Ann C.

The parameters for activating this emergency shelter response are quite stringent due to limited funding. We only activate for temperatures or wind chill factor in single digits (Fahrenheit), or snow storms or freezing rain. We first activated as of Nov 29 and will operate, based solely on weather conditions, until the worst of the winter concludes, or funding is depleted, usually by February/March. We do not offer contiguous stays in hotels.

Carroll County's Cold Weather Program is currently activated due to weather emergencies of snow storms and extreme cold. To refer someone in danger in our region, please call/text 603.452.8428 to reach our Cold Weather Program liaison Ann C. during weekdays. We do not maintain 24/7 response so please make referrals as soon as possible.

Remember that our county doesn’t have a designated year-round public shelter to receive unhoused individuals. Instead we are offering extremely limited responses in cooperation with other wraparound professionals and agencies whenever possible. Cold weather activations, including use of hotels as emergency shelter, only last thru extreme weather conditions; they do not include contiguous use of hotels beyond snowfall or life-threatening temperatures. 

Please forward this info to any contacts you believe should have this information, such as first responders, local social workers, public health care providers, etc.!  We need the names and contact info for anyone that is being referred into the cold weather program, so our team can reach out to them.

The list of possible services for emergency response are as follows, as a reminder.

• Hotel rooms with first prioritization for campers [unless they have been banned from hotels]

• Gas cards for people in cars [unless temps/conditions are extremely dangerous and they are offered hotel rooms for overnight safety]

• Camping gear for people who have been disqualified from any hotel stays 

Way Station has partnered with local hotels in Ossipee and North Conway.  If clients are unable to stay in hotels, they can receive other services from Way Station like gas cards or camping gear, depending on their situation.  Further, Jennifer L. From the Way Station’s cold weather team will also be in touch to enroll or update people’s info in the state’s HMIS database, which is a requirement of participating in this program.  Once a client is known to our team, we will continue to keep in touch with them for check-ins, to further assist them with services or referrals to other agencies.  Way Station is the agency that administers the grant-funded DHHS Cold Weather Emergency Shelter Program for Carroll County. 

The Way Station's contact number for all other services that the Way station provides remains 603-452-7113, answered by client services coordinator Dan Lavigne. Year-round frontline services include provision of shelf stable food, gas cards, phones/phone cards, laundry cards, use of PO Box to get mail or register car, etc, camping gear, emergency clothing, toiletries, showers by appointment on Monday or Thursday at 17 Grove st, North Conway, or referrals to other nonprofits and service providers.  Dan also keeps mobile hours in Ossipee once each week.