SCRANTON — Catholic Social Services will now operate the city’s emergency “code blue” overnight homeless shelter at Weston Field House during extreme cold or snowy weather, the mayor and CSC announced Wednesday.
Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton replaces the financially struggling Keystone Mission as the operator of the code blue shelter at Weston Field House, 982 Providence Road.
The Christian-based Keystone Mission and the city first partnered in 2019 to open the code blue shelter at Weston Field House during frigid weather. Keystone Mission also used Weston Field House in 2020 as a temporary homeless shelter during the COVID-19 state of emergency.
During a code blue event in February when temperatures dropped to 9 degrees, the code blue shelter opened several hours late because of a Keystone Mission staffing shortage, according to archives of The Times-Tribune. Then in the summer, the mission closed its drop-in day center on Olive Street in Scranton.
With the mission no longer able to operate the code blue shelter at the Weston Field House, the city and Catholic Social Services reached an agreement to have CSC operate it. This shelter will accommodate up to 50 people during a code blue event.
“We are thrilled to announce that Catholic Social Services will be providing the staffing for code blue this year,” Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said of the upcoming 2025-26 winter season. “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.”
Lackawanna County issues code blue alerts when forecasts predict temperatures to dip below 20 degrees. The Department of Homeless Services and ReadyPA.gov also recommend code blue alerts when forecasts predict 12 inches of snow or more, or rain, sleet or snow with temperatures of 32 degrees and a lower windchill temperature.
The 2024-25 winter season had 70 code blue alerts and an average of about 15 homeless residents staying at Weston Field House on each of those nights.
“That’s about 1,000 hours of staffing where homeless residents have a warm place to go,” Cognetti said.
Catholic Social Services CEO Joe Mahoney said, “We are very happy to step up” and run the code blue shelter. “We knew what the answer was — the answer is yes, we want to do this. The question was how do we get to yes. We were able to come together to get this done.”
A homeless shelter is a Gospel-based core program of Catholic Social Services, Mahoney said. CSC has operated the city’s sole overnight homeless shelter, St. Anthony’s Haven at 409 Olive St., for over 30 years, and which can accommodate 20 men and six women per night, he said.
“This is what we do — we shelter the homeless. There is no wiggle room. We shelter the homeless. We do that 365 nights a year at St. Anthony’s Haven,” Mahoney said. “But on especially cold nights, we need more room and being able to house up to 50 here (at the code blue shelter at Weston Field House) will give us that space we need.”
The Rev. Gerald Shantillo, the vicar general of the Diocese of Scranton, also said the diocese and CSC will do their best “to help them (homeless residents) get through some difficult times.”
The Rev. Gerald Shantillo, vicar general for the Diocese of Scranton speaks Thursday, Nov. 14, 2025 at the city’s Weston Field House about Catholic Social Services now operating the city’s frigid-weather code blue shelter for homeless people. CSC fills a void created by the departure of the financially struggling Keystone Mission that operated the code blue shelter at Weston Field House since 2019. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, flanked by Catholic Social Services CEO Joe Mahoney, speaks Thursday, Nov. 14, 2025 at the city’s Weston Field House about Catholic Social Services now operating the city’s frigid-weather code blue shelter for homeless people. CSC fills a void created by the departure of the financially struggling Keystone Mission that operated the code blue shelter at Weston Field House since 2019. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
Catholic Social Services CEO Joe Mahoney speaks Thursday, Nov. 14, 2025 at the city’s Weston Field House about Catholic Social Services now operating the city’s frigid-weather code blue shelter for homeless people. CSC fills a void created by the departure of the financially struggling Keystone Mission that operated the code blue shelter at Weston Field House since 2019. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
The Rev. Gerald Shantillo, vicar general for the Diocese of Scranton speaks Thursday, Nov. 14, 2025 at the city’s Weston Field House about Catholic Social Services now operating the city’s frigid-weather code blue shelter for homeless people. CSC fills a void created by the departure of the financially struggling Keystone Mission that operated the code blue shelter at Weston Field House since 2019. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, flanked by Catholic Social Services CEO Joe Mahoney, speaks Thursday, Nov. 14, 2025 at the city’s Weston Field House about Catholic Social Services now operating the city’s frigid-weather code blue shelter for homeless people. CSC fills a void created by the departure of the financially struggling Keystone Mission that operated the code blue shelter at Weston Field House since 2019. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
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The Rev. Gerald Shantillo, vicar general for the Diocese of Scranton speaks Thursday, Nov. 14, 2025 at the city’s Weston Field House about Catholic Social Services now operating the city’s frigid-weather code blue shelter for homeless people. CSC fills a void created by the departure of the financially struggling Keystone Mission that operated the code blue shelter at Weston Field House since 2019. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)