The city of Sacramento plans to open a warming center at its downtown library Monday night for those without a home or heat amid expected freezing temperatures.
This is the second time in as many months the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, at 828 I St., will operate as a warming center. It will open from 9 p.m. Monday through 6 a.m. on Tuesday according to a city press release.
People can access the center through the Galleria patio entrance on 9th Street between I and J streets. Face coverings are required at the center and will be distributed to those who need one.
Temperatures are expected to drop below 33 degrees tonight, which is the threshold the city has used since December to decide whether to open the bare-bones facilities, which offer coffee, snacks and a place to sleep.
Before that, the city opened them only when it dropped to 32 degrees or below on three consecutive nights, based on Sacramento County guidelines.
Janna Haynes, a county spokesperson, wrote in an email that she was not aware of any other cities in the county that planned to open a warming center tonight.
The recent change made by the city followed years of calls from advocates for the unhoused to make the criteria less strict, along with the death of a homeless man, Greg Tarola, 63, who was found on a sidewalk in the River District in late November wrapped in blankets wet from the previous night’s rain. Advocates said at the time they believed he froze to death.
An initial determination from the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office listed Tarola’s death as “natural,” though a spokesperson for the office has said it could be months before a final conclusion is made.
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