Despite California’s famously warm and sunny weather, winter months still bring rain and nighttime temperatures that dip below freezing—conditions that can and have claimed lives.
A homeless man, Freedom, died on Santa Barbara’s streets during such weather conditions in 2009. The incident sparked pressure from community members for the development of local warming centers, short-term emergency shelters that operate during life-threatening conditions and temperatures. Santa Barbara County’s first Freedom Warming Center, named to honor the homeless man, opened about a year after his death.
“We can never allow this to happen again,” said Kathy Hayes, director of Freedom Warming Centers.
Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, Carpinteria, Lompoc, and Santa Maria are now all outfitted with warming centers, Hayes said, which open during poor weather conditions from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Nov. 15 until March 30. Centers open when temperatures are expected to drop below 35 degrees or there is a 50 percent chance of rain, as recommended by the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Santa Maria’s warming center, located at the Salvation Army at 200 West Cook St., will offer medical services provided by Doctors Without Walls for the first time this year, according to Hayes. Physicians working with the volunteer program have agreed to travel from Santa Barbara to Santa Maria once or twice a month to perform health checks on homeless individuals, a service that Hayes said was already available in the county’s other warming centers.
Santa Maria’s warming center can hold about 65 people, and Hayes said in past years, the center saw an average of about 45 to 50 people a night.
The centers in Carpinteria, Isla Vista, and Lompoc hold about 25 people, and Santa Barbara’s warming center holds 80. In case of overflow, Santa Barbara has another center that can hold about 40 individuals, and Hayes said that site was used about 12 times last year. Combined, the centers serve about 200 people each night. Most people served at Freedom Warming Centers are about 45 years old, Hayes said, and 85 percent are men.
The centers are equipped with mattresses and bedding, Spanish speaking services, and a meal is provided to each person who checks in. Mental health, recovery, and housing services will also be readily available in each center, Hayes said.
“I really look at warming centers as the gateway to helping the destitute and homeless,” Hayes said. “These are people who really have nothing and they’re the people we always drive by on the streets. It’s the first step.”
Individuals who access warming centers are less likely to visit emergency rooms and to be housed in jails, according to Hayes.
“It’s a health and social concern,” Hayes said. “If people are trying to find warm shelter on private property they can be arrested, and then they go to jail and it’s a cycle. So warming centers are here to help reduce and prevent that.”
Freedom Warming Centers are funded through community donations, various foundations, the county, and the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, Hayes said. For information about activation and location, those interested can call the Freedom Warming Centers hotline at 324-2372.
