The issue of homelessness in the Inter-war period in Warsaw remained a relatively new phenomenon, which appeared rather unexpectedly, for the municipal powers during World War I. Each consecutive year brought an increase in the number of homeless people recruited from among the city dwellers and newcomers to the city. The basic form of help, which the city was legislatively obliged to offer, was accommodation for the homeless, quite often whole families, in established or newly forming shelters. In this way, thousands of families acquired accomodation, in varied living conditions, most often in provisional wooden barracks. In Warsaw, during this period, functioned several institutions (shelters, night shelters, half-way houses etc.), in which the homeless could find shelter. In the article the author primarily focuses on presenting a concise historical outline of the operation of the city’s homeless shelters till the middle of the 1930s when municipality powers made the decision to alter the form of help. At that time small shelters ceased to function and their former inhabitants were paid cash allowance which could be used to rent a flat. The article is based on research of the city’s press of the time. Unfortunately, the municipality’s documentation of the problem did not endure.