KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The City of Kalamazoo has opened a third shelter for the homeless after city staff went out to a homeless encampment in town and determined more beds were needed.
The Red Cross has turned the Douglass Community Center into a shelter with cots, food and other supplies for at least the next few days.
City Manager Jim Ritsema went to an encampment yesterday at Ransom and Pitcher, and found out that an additional shelter was needed.
The First Baptist and First Congregational Churches Downtown have also opened their doors as overnight warming stations and shelters. That’s in addition to the permanent homeless sheltering agencies in town.
For most of us it’s just a matter of staying put, or we have the resources to cope with the cold.
For the homeless in Kalamazoo, a life and death struggle is underway and local agencies are doing what it can to prevent people from dying.
County Housing Commission Chair Dave Anderson says they have a team at Community Mental Health that is performing rescue missions.
People who choose to live outdoors sometimes need to be persuaded to come indoors.
They were scheduled to perform a census of the homeless today, instead they are using their knowledge of encampment locations to bring them into shelters.
There has already been one homeless man found frozen to death in Portage this year.
Here are two important phone numbers:
If you are homeless, or have a home but no heat, to get help to get to a shelter 1-269-910-8677.
If you know of someone who is homeless or someone in a dangerous situation who should be in a shelter call 1-269-364-6945.
