A new warming center that can support unhoused adults is opening Monday on Lansing’s Westside.
The city is operating an overnight warming center at the Letts Community Center on Kalamazoo Street. Up to 75 adult individuals without shelter can visit for a place to stay indoors.
Kimberly Coleman directs the city’s Human Relations and Community Services department. She says a warming center is different from a shelter for the homeless.
“A warming center cannot have sleeping arrangements," Coleman said. "And so there'll be non-perishable snacks, there'll be tables and chairs for people to sit at until they are ready to go, they may stay the whole night.”
The city originally planned to run the facility for families with children at the Letts Community Center. But because the building lacks appropriate fire suppression systems, officials said they cannot allow sleeping accommodations and are not allowing children to stay at the center.
Coleman said the city is working to shelter families with children.
“We’re looking at prioritizing the use of our hotel funds and using them where we can to help families who are extremely vulnerable,” she said.
Coleman says nobody will be turned away on Code Blue nights where residents could face extreme cold. Officials are using around $800,000 in state funding as well as local support from the City Council to operate the facility.
The warming center is being overseen by Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries
and is open from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., every night of the week through April.
