The semi-permanent arrangements are usually a small number of apartments for which there are months-long waiting lists. It's considered to be like a halfway ho

The semi-permanent arrangements are usually a small number of apartments for which there are months-long waiting lists. It's considered to be like a halfway house, or a dry run for having an actual apartment, and the shelter frequently charges a nominal rent + utils, just to get the tenant into the habit of dealing with monthly bills. But this is a tiny fraction of the total quantity of shelter beds - most are mattresses that are laid out on a gymnasium floor at 8pm (first come first served, so yes the lines form much earlier), then collected and stacked at 7am the next morning when everyone is given a quick breakfast and turfed out onto the street.