Denver’s shelters were jammed Wednesday night as the city’s homeless tried to get out of the bone-chilling cold.
The Denver Rescue Mission on Lawrence Street and Park Avenue West, which normally provides shelter only at night, opened at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The temperature was down to 5 degrees at 10:30 p.m. and was expected to plunge below zero overnight, according to the National Weather Service.
“They have been coming in and getting out of the cold,” said Greta Walker, Denver Rescue spokeswoman. One hundred additional cots were set up at the shelter, which ordinarily provides beds for 200.
“If people come in the middle of the night, our goal is to keep people alive, so we will let them come inside even if all the cots are taken,” she said.
The Salvation Army’s Crossroads shelter, on 29th Street, had room for 350 people, said Maj. Neal Hogan, Salvation Army director of social services.
The Salvation Army also has a search-and-rescue-crew prowling the streets to warn the homeless to get inside and to transport some of them to shelter, Hogan said.
Tom McGhee, The Denver Post
