Cold Temps Expand Shelter Services In Santa Clara County

CAMPBELL, CA -- It's cold outside. With temperatures dipping into the 30s, Santa Clara County's Office of Supportive Housing is expanding the number of beds and extending hours at shelters throughout the region starting Friday night and ending Wednesday morning.

Overnight warming locations will also open at 9 p.m. on Sunday evening.

Up to 150 additional beds will be available at:

• City of San Jose warming Locations
• Bill Wilson Center
• City Team Ministries
• Gilroy National Guard Armory
• HomeFirst’s Boccardo Reception Center
• Salvation Army
• LifeMoves Shelters for Single Adults
• Project WeHOPE

For a printable PDF of warming centers and shelters with expanded services, go to http://bit.ly/warm-centersSCC

More information may be obtained by also visiting

https://www.sccgov.org/sites/osh/NeedAssistance/warmingcenters/Pages/home.aspx.

Available hotlines for services include:

• Call 2-1-1: for health and human services in Santa Clara County;
• Homeless Helpline: Call the County Office of Supportive Housing at 408-793-0550 to ask for assistance or report a homeless person in need in Santa Clara County (excluding San Jose);
• HomeFirst Homeless Helpline: Call 408-510-7600 or e-mail the HomeFirst Helpline at Outreach@homefirstscc.org. HomeFirst’s Outreach team provides access to emergency shelter, showers, laundry, meals, medical services, case management, employment training, and more.

Homeless individuals can register to receive text messages about services as follows:

• Simply address a text message to: 888777
• Type BADWEATHER in the message
• Send the message

During extreme cold temperatures, Santa Clara County's Office of Supportive Housing activates the Inclement Weather Plan, which supplements the regular, ongoing cold-weather shelter program.

Triggers for this plan is considered:

• Forecasted overnight lows of 40 degrees or lower with a probability of rain of less than 50 percent.
• Forecasted overnight lows of 45 degrees or lower with a probability of rain of 50 percent or greater.
• Forecasted periods of rain for 48 hours or more, which will likely result in flooding.

--Image via Shutterstock