Detroit opens warming centers to provide relief from the cold
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and last updated 2020-12-23 09:25:07-05
DETROIT (WXYZ) â Warming centers and respite locations in Detroit are open to provide relief from the cold.
The city has three warming centers, in conjunction with two local nonprofit homeless service providers, open from now through March 31.
The City of Detroit is contracting with Cass Community Social Services and Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (two locations) to provide temporary relief to persons who are homeless when year-round shelters may be at capacity. A fourth day center has opened at the TCF Center operated by the Pope Francis Center.
As temperatures plunge, Detroit is reminding residents that warming centers are open for people who need relief from the cold.
The city has three warming centers and two local nonprofit homeless shelters, which are open now through March 31, according to a news release. Detroit also contracted Cass Community Social Services and Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries to provide further relief when shelters are at capacity.
Earlier in November, the Pope Francis Center, another shelter and resource center, relocated to the TCF Center to meet the growing demands for its services. The center provides people with two nutritious meals, hot showers, grooming services, laundry facilities and housing assistance, according to its website.
Homeless service providers across metro Detroit are facing a trio of challenges, as the temperature drops and COVID-19 cases surge.
They normally see increased demand during winter and this year is no different. At the same time, pandemic safety restrictions have forced shelters to cut back on the number of people they can accommodate. On top of this, state and federal safeguards against evictions are expected to end in December. Without further intervention, housing experts expect an eviction crisis that could send people into homelessness, taxing an already overwhelmed system of providers. Now during the pandemic, anybody could be two paychecks away from being homeless, said April Fidler, executive director of the Macomb County Rotating Emergency Shelter.