Homeless shelters are gearing up for the extreme cold. In South Bend, the Center for the Homeless houses an overnight weather amnesty program.
“Emergency shelter is available for men, for women and female-headed households with children, and so, we encourage people to come in and to be able to get the overnight shelter that they need,” said Carl Hetler, the city’s coordinator of homeless outreach.
It’s been a busy year for the program, with the rough winter weather. Center for the Homeless Executive Director Steve Camilleri says its beds have often approached capacity.
“When we go beyond that, unfortunately, we have to put people in the lobby on mats on the floor, but again, with the options that we have, that is certainly much better than being outside in this weather,” Camilleri said.
Churches and other organizations have been stepping up to provide overflow capacity.
Additionally, several South Bend park facilities serve as daytime warming stations during regular business hours. Hetler says he’s trained staff members on how to connect people to additional resources and deescalation, “So that they know how to best care for people who are going through the traumatic experience of not having their own warm place to go during these cold temperatures that we have.”
Additionally, Camilleri says his center’s overnight guests will be allowed to stay during the daytime, due to the upcoming forecast. "We are expecting that they’ll probably not be leaving at 8:00 a.m.," Camilleri said. "We’ll invite them to stay all day because it’s going to be real dangerous out there."
For people who are still outside, Hetler says the city is working with outreach teams to connect them to resources. “People have lost a lot of trust and have faced a lot of trauma, and so they need people going out to them where they’re at, meeting them where they’re at,” Hetler explained.
He says there’s been a slight increase this winter in people seeking shelter.
And the Center for the Homeless faces the same winter challenges as any other organization. Camilleri says that includes making sure sidewalks are clear and staff can get to work.
“There’s a lot of illness going around right now, and when you’re at the Center for the Homeless, if one person is sick, that means, usually two people are sick,” Camilleri added.
Hetler says South Bend’s emergency shelter efforts are part of a larger strategy to find people long-term housing. He says about 20 percent of those taking part in weather amnesty will go into a residential program.
"This is a first step," Hetler said. "We want to get people in out of the cold, keep them warm, but then we also want to connect them with a residential program, where they can continue to grow and develop and get the care that they need.”
Hetler says the city of South Bend is committed to increasing the amount of supportive and affordable housing.
