A Monday afternoon phone call to Columbus Mayor Robert Smith confirmed what Glenda Richardson had already suspected: The city’s warming center will not be open this winter because of the threat of COVID-19.

“We just don’t believe it’s a good idea to open the warming center,” said Richardson, director for the city’s Community Outreach Center. “The threat of COVID-19 is just too high. The people would be in too close proximity to make it safe.”

The city’s warming shelter, located in the Boy Scouts hut on the Hitching Lot Farmers Market, opened last January, providing the homeless or people with inadequate home heating a place to stay when temperatures fall below freezing. Richardson said as many as a dozen or more people used the shelter during the cold weather of last winter.

Monday’s overnight low was 24 degrees and the forecast through the weekend predicts lows at or below freezing. Under normal circumstances, such weather would trigger preparations from Richardson, along with partners the Golden Triangle Homeless Coalition (GTHC) and Loaves and Fishes, to prepare the center for occupation.

The Community Outreach Center helps locate people in need of a warm place to stay while the GTHC stays and operates the warming center. Loaves and Fishes provides meals for those who use the shelter.

Sandra DePriest of the GTHC agreed with the decision to keep the warming center closed.

“Absolutely,” she said. “We had reached the same conclusion. It’s just not safe, not for our volunteers and not for the people coming in. We want to do everything we can to accommodate homeless people, but in the current situation, opening the homeless center isn’t an option.”

Richardson said Community Outreach will try to provide hotel rooms for homeless people and is calling for the community to help.

“COVID-19 had already put us in a difficult situation,” Richardson said. “We normally have our big fundraising event in November, but we couldn’t do that this year because of COVID. So our funds are limited. We really could use donations.”

Richardson said through an agreement with area hotels, rooms are available at $45 per night.

“We really need cash donations, but we also need coats, gloves, hats, anything that people need during cold weather,” she said.

Richardson said first responders — primarily patrol officers from Columbus Police Department — are on the lookout for those who need a warm place to stay. In other cases, citizens alert Richardson when they see people who may be in need.

“All anyone has to do is call,” Richardson said. The number is 662-244-3525.

GTHC can be reached at 662-549-2643.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].