Homeless shelters are places for people to stay temporarily when they otherwise would have to sleep on the street, similar to emergency shelters. The main difference is that a homeless shelter is usually open to anyone, regardless of why they don't have a more typical residence available; some limit their clientele by gender or age. A more minor difference is that homeless shelters usually expect people to stay elsewhere during the day, returning only to sleep, or if the shelter also provides meals, to eat, while people in emergency shelters are more likely to stay all day, except for work, school, or errands. Some homeless shelters, however, are open 24 hours a day.

Homeless shelters are usually operated by a non-profit agency, sometimes associated with a church. Many get at least part of their funding from local government entities.

Homeless shelters sometimes also provide other services, such as a soup kitchen, job seeking skills training, job training, job placement, support groups, and/or chemical (IE drugs and/or alcohol) abuse treatment. If they don't offer any of these services, they can usually refer their clients to agencies that do.