The City of Santa Rosa, in partnership with Catholic Charities, will open a temporary drop-in warming center beginning tonight, Dec. 12 through Friday morning, Dec. 16 for residents who need a place to get out of the weather this week during forecasted extreme cold. The National Weather Service (NWS) is projecting temperatures dipping below freezing overnight for the next several nights. The City’s Extreme Weather Warming Center Policy directs the opening of the warming center whenever the NWS forecasts three consecutive days with overnight lows below 32-degrees Fahrenheit, or three consecutive nights of rainfall with major or extreme risk levels as determined by the NWS, or a combination of these two extreme weather events.

The warming center will open Monday, Dec. 12, and operate during the hours of 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. until Friday morning, Dec. 16. It will be located at the Homeless Services Center of Catholic Charities’ new Caritas Center in downtown Santa Rosa at 301 6th St. Suite 108; the entrance is on Morgan and 6th Streets. The Caritas Center facility has indoor space and outdoor space warmed by radiant heaters to host up to 90 individuals. The warming center is a drop-in place to warm up and charge devices; it is not a shelter, and no cots for sleeping will be provided. However, individuals who seek indoor emergency shelter will be provided with a referral.

The City is notifying community members of the warming center opening, including outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness in Santa Rosa. The City follows a Housing First strategy to address homelessness, providing individualized assistance to connect individuals experiencing homelessness with services and shelter, with the goal of helping them to transition from being homeless into housing.

Visit SRCity.org/ExtremeCold to learn more about cold weather preparedness, including safety tips. 

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