Shelters in a yard in poor areas (7)
I believe the answer is:
asylums
'shelters' is the definition.
(asylum is a kind of shelter)
'a yard in poor areas' is the wordplay.
'yard' becomes 'y' (abbreviation).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'poor areas' becomes 'slums' (I've seen this before).
'y' going into 'slums' is 'sylums'.
'a'+'sylums'='ASYLUMS'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for asylums that I've seen before include "Shelters from danger or hardship" , "'Refuges, sanctuaries (7)'" , "Sanctuaries or psychiatric institutions" , "Places of refuge" , "Nuts were kept here" .)