Shelter opens in city
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 10/26/2023, 6 p.m.
City Hall proved this week it is ready to shelter people on chilly nights.
With the temperature forecast to drop below 40 degrees Monday night, homeless people were allowed to shelter for the night at 730 E. Broad St. if they had no other housing options.
This was the first use of the city-owned building for a shelter. The administration has said the space has been programmed to serve 65 male adults, 30 female adults and five families.
Early Tuesday, the temperature was recorded at 39 degrees. A long-standing City Council policy requires the administration to have an overflow shelter when the low temperature, including wind chill, is forecast to be 40 or colder.
The shelter has closed as the nighttime temperatures rose this week.
But the 10-day forecast for Richmond suggests the shelter will need to open next Tuesday, Oct. 31, and continue to be available each night through Saturday morning, Nov. 4.
The forecast calls for low temperatures to be in the 30s before easing during the weekend.
The building is to be used until a permanent inclement weather shelter is in place.
City Council is anticipated to vote Monday, Nov. 13, to authorize city officials to contract with the Salvation Army to operate a 150-bed shelter at 1900 Chamberlayne Ave. At this point, that shelter is not expected to open before Dec. 1.
Separately, the council also is to vote on an ordinance allowing the city to contract with the nonprofit Home Again to operate a shelter for families at 7 N. 2nd St.
