Updating live shelter bed status
How confirmed shelter operators publish live bed availability to the public shelter page, and how LaneHelp keeps that data trustworthy.
What this does
Approved organizations with a LaneHelp-confirmed shelter link get a Bed Status tool. Published updates appear on the public shelter page immediately, with the organization and timestamp attached.
When to use it
For shelter Owners and Admins responsible for keeping public bed availability current.
What you need
An approved organization whose shelter link has been confirmed by LaneHelp moderation. An organization profile alone does not enable publishing.
In this guide
Who can publish
Only Owners and Admins of an approved organization with a confirmed shelter link can publish, and only for their own linked shelters. This is enforced on the server and again in the database, so bed status can never create a new public shelter or touch another organization’s shelter.
Publishing an update
Open the tool
From the organization dashboard, open Bed status. Your confirmed shelters appear in a selector — there is no free-text shelter field.
Enter the numbers
Available beds, optional total capacity, intake status (open, waitlist, or closed), and optional intake notes like check-in time or documents needed.
Confirm large changes
Unusually large swings — like going from zero beds to full availability — ask for an explicit confirmation before publishing, to catch typos before they mislead someone at a door.
Publish
The public shelter page shows the new numbers immediately, with a “verified” timestamp.
History, attribution, and staleness
- Every update records who submitted it, when, the previous value, and the new value — visible in the tool’s history.
- The public page shows how recently the information was verified.
- If a shelter hasn’t updated within about 30 hours, the tool flags the status as possibly outdated instead of presenting old numbers as live truth.
Common questions
Why can’t I see the publish form?
Your organization either isn’t approved yet or has no confirmed shelter link. The tool explains which, and how to fix it.
Can members update bed counts?
No. Members carry affiliation only — bed publishing needs the Owner or an Admin.
What if we stop updating?
Nothing breaks — the public page keeps the last numbers but marks them as possibly outdated so nobody treats them as live.
Related guides
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