City of Duluth Adds Second Warming Shelter in West Duluth

DULUTH, Minn.– As the weather is getting colder, the city of Duluth is adding extra resources to help keep people warm this winter.

In 2018, the city of Duluth estimated that anywhere from 125-200 people were homeless or unsheltered in Duluth. And with the weather changing and the pandemic continuing, the city and other organizations are helping provide shelter to those who need it.

The city of Duluth, CHUM, and St. Louis County announced that city center west off Grand Avenue will be used as a second emergency warming location this winter to make both places more socially distant.

People will be able to enter the shelter as early as November 4th, after it is used as a voting site the day before for Election Day.

CHUM will be operating both warming centers. They will be open on from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. on nights were the temperature drops to 32 degrees or lower.

“What often ends up happening in the winter is that people who might be sleeping outside and we’ve seen it more this year given that we are in a pandemic,” said Adam Fulton, Deputy Director of Planning and Urban Development for the City of Duluth. “People have chosen to sleep outside and isolate themselves a little bit more. Encounter more dangerous conditions when the weather gets colder.”

The Duluth Transit Authority will also be giving free rides to anyone going to and from the shelter.