OKC To Open Daytime Warming Center In Red Andrews Park

Oklahoma City is planning to open a temporary daytime warming center in the Red Andrews Municipal Gym for people needing to get out of the cold.

The gym will be open for one week, starting at 7 a.m. Friday. It will stay open until 4 p.m. every day until next Friday.

The center itself will be open for people trying to avoid this extreme cold and will be staffed by the parks and recreation department. The American Red Cross of Oklahoma will provide coffee, water, and snacks.

For people experiencing homelessness, the day shelter at the Homeless Alliance off Northwest 3rd Street will open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Well over one thousand people are homeless in Oklahoma City on any given day,” said the City’s homeless program planner Jerod Shadid. “We need to offer safe, socially distanced places for people to take refuge from the cold.”

If someone needs shelter overnight, they'll be able to go to the Willard Winter Shelter which is off Northwest 3rd Street and North McKinley Avenue. It will be open from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m.

If the facility fills up, the city says those people will be taken to another backup facility.