New Haven advocates are asking the city to find a solution to the city’s housing crisis after its last two warming centers closed for the year.
The Life Kingdom Outreach Ministries and West Haven warming centers have closed for the year. Activists with the homeless advocacy group U-ACT said their closure will leave unhoused residents to face the elements.
Warming centers differ from year-round shelters and provide seasonal shelter for unhoused people during the colder months.
Advocates said when warming centers shut their doors, residents go on shelter waiting lists for months with nowhere to live. Advocates said that asking for housing should be a moral obligation for the city.
“And we’ll keep asking till everyone is humanely and adequately housed in the city. This is a community response to a housing emergency; this is how a community shows up when our neighbors are struggling,” advocates said at the town hall.
According to the United Way of Connecticut website, there are no designated cooling centers currently operating in New Haven. The city said that when extreme heat protocols are activated, all libraries and senior centers open as cooling centers.