PITTSBURGH — When the temperature dips below 28 degrees, Abiding Missions in Pittsburgh’s Allentown opens its doors to anyone who wants to get out of the cold.
The warming center opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning. It’s located in a former church on Excelsior Street.
“It’s a time that folks can come in and warm up in our space. We’ll provide some hot coffee, hot breakfast, hot lunch,” said Abiding Director Executive Director Jordan Shoenberger.
He told Channel 11 the nonprofit also has a place for people to lay down on cots or mats, upstairs, and what used to be the church sanctuary.
While today is quiet, other days are much busier with people who need a break from the cold.
“Allentown has a number of folks that do pass through that are homeless and so they might come through for the warming center. Also, we see a lot of folks that are coming through that don’t have adequate utilities and so on cold days. It might be difficult for them to keep their house warmer, so they’ll come down,” Shoenberger said.
Shoenberger said the daytime hours of the warming center fill the gap with local shelters.
“So, the timing for our warming center is from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and that is in line with the number of the shelters they close during the day for folks that spend the night there and folks often have to leave the property and then come back at night,” Shoenberger said.
The warming center is not expected to be open on Wednesday since the temperature is forecasted to be above 28 degrees.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
TRENDING NOW:
©2023 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
