The City of Dallas opened a third city facility as a temporary overnight homeless shelter Thursday as temperatures dipped into the mid-20's again. City officials made that decision after the high demand for shelter Wednesday evening.
"What we have seen so far is about 750 people. We're just making sure that everybody comes in out of the cold," said Office of Homeless Solutions Director Christine Crossley on Thursday. "We expect to see more people coming in before we end any inclement weather shelter in the coming days."
Those locations, she said, were not designed as "walk in" shelters. People staying overnight at those locations were required to be screened at one of the city's existing homeless service providers.
Dallas also opened several of its city libraries as emergency warming centers during the day.
The group "Our Calling" opened its offices as an overnight shelter both Wednesday night and Thursday night. Officials with the group say they'll monitor the forecast today to determine if that's necessary again tonight.
"Because this is Texas and the weather changes in a heartbeat, we reevaluate every morning," said Pastor Wayne Walker.
He said the winter weather has highlighted some of the shortcomings of the city's current safety net for people who are homeless.
"It's challenging for us to meet all these needs and it becomes headlines when it's freezing outside. People in the community are asking how they can help and it's a great time to really participate," he said. He's urging people interested in helping to visit the group's web site to review their options.
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