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Organizers say winter warming center kept people alive; ask city to sustain effort
Summary
Organizers of a volunteer-run warming center told the Springfield City Commission that the site operated this past winter out of a gymnasium, served dozens, and recorded no deaths from exposure. Presenters urged the commission to continue support and to pursue longer-term solutions including case management and housing partnerships.
Ken Baron Selig, a pastor who leads a street ministry affiliated with Liberty Disaster Relief, told the Springfield City Commission at a work session that a volunteer-run warming center opened this past winter and helped dozens of people avoid exposure-related deaths.
“The most important number that I'm gonna say here tonight is 0,” Baron Selig said, referring to the number of people who died of exposure while the warming center operated. “Once you're inside, there was only 1 rule, be nice.”
Baron Selig said the center opened on Dec. 2 and operated under a 90-day occupancy permit in a gymnasium loaned by a local center on Fountain Avenue. He said the site provided meals and a place to warm, and that volunteers staffed the site around the clock for extended periods: “I physically didn't even leave the building for 45 days,” he said.
Why it matters: organizers…
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