Warming Centers, Homeless Shelters Staying Busy

With the winter chill hitting the Northland, Northland homeless shelters and warming centers are staying busy.

DULUTH, Minn. – With the winter chill hitting the Northland, Northland homeless shelters and warming centers are staying busy. Management at CHUM says they’ve seen about 80 people a night in the shelters along with another 35 in the warming center.

However, because of COVID some of the homeless are concerned about going into the shelters over fears of catching the virus.

“It’s been tough for people because there’s nothing that’s open all day,” said Deb Holman, who is part of CHUM’s street outreach. “With COVID everything is closed. So people can access the CHUM 24/7 but not everybody wants to come in there so.”

Safety precautions are in place at the shelter and warming centers, including physical distancing. The warming centers are open from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday while staying open 24 hours on Sundays. The CHUM center remains open 24/7.