Warming shelter closed tomorrow

ROSEBURG, Ore. – Onward Roseburg seeks a few more volunteers to help open the Roseburg Warming Center to guests tonight and Saturday morning, but the center will not open Saturday night.

Everyone in need of temporary overnight shelter on especially cold winter nights will be welcome at the center housed in the Roseburg Senior Center, 1614 SE Stephens St. The weather forecast for Saturday night, Feb. 25, does not meet the severe weather criteria so the center won’t be open then, said warming center operator Kimetha Stallings, founder of Onward Roseburg.

Warming center check-in starts at 6 p.m. with 60 cots available for guests and volunteers. A free senior center shuttle will make a circuit around town for guests starting about 5:30 p.m. and then again in the morning. People can arrive any time during the night and stay until 8 a.m. A cot, blanket and pillow plus hot dinner and breakfast are provided.

Volunteers can sign up at signupgenius.com: https://bit.ly/3EuO5nX.

The City’s Severe Event Shelter Policy, Resolution No. 2020-22, provides operational standards for organizations seeking City approval to open a temporary emergency shelter in buildings not designated as residential occupancy. Those operational standards include allowing a warming shelter to open during severe weather:

• on nights when the low temperatures are predicted to be 30 degrees Fahrenheit or less;

• or when low temperatures are forecasted to be 32 degrees Fahrenheit or less with additional factors that could increase a person’s risk of exposure to cold such as precipitation, wind, fog and sustained low temperatures. 

In addition, the Roseburg Rescue Mission offers overnight shelter at 752 SE Pine St. all year.