The Town of South Kingstown opened up their yearly warming centers as Rhode Island temperatures dropped as low as 13 degrees Fahrenheit on Jan. 22.
During the work week, South Kingstown’s senior center, the Neighborhood Guild, the Peace Dale Library, the Kingston Free Library and the Hale Library act as warming centers. People come and go as they wish and can utilize the space as originally intended – or to escape the cold.
These stations all operate Monday through Fridays, with the Peace Dale Library and Kingston Free Library continuing operations on Saturdays until 5 p.m. The Town of South Kingstown listed each location and their respective hours on its website.
At night and on weekends, people can reach out to South Kingstown police to connect with warming and housing centers, according to Terry Murphy, the leisure services director of South Kingstown Parks & Recreation.
While everyone might not need these spaces, they are helpful for unhoused individuals, according to Murphy.
“The sad truth is many communities in this day and age do have unhoused populations that are living in a vehicle or… in a tent,” Murphy said.
Due to global warming, the winters in Rhode Island have gotten more mild for unhoused populations, Murphy said. However, there still are cold patches and temperature lows that can be dangerous, Murphy said.
The South Kingstown Police Department identified somewhere between six to eight unsheltered people, South Kingstown Police Chief Matthew Moynihan said. This is about 0.02% of the South Kingstown population, according to the United States Census Bureau website.
The police check in on those who are homeless in South Kingstown and are instructed to respect their privacy and intentions, Moynihan said.
“We have to respect that and be a helping hand,” Moynihan said.
At night, when the temperatures are typically the coldest, homeless individuals can call the police or stop at a police station, according to Moynihan. Police will either send them to Welcome House of South County in Wakefield, Rhode Island, or to The Warm Center in Westerly, Rhode Island.
Welcome House has about 18 beds with overflow availability during cold spells, Moynihan said. If there aren’t enough beds, the house sends people to The Warm Center. There, The Warm Center will house them or provide resources – such as hotel vouchers.
Running the warming centers is not all that the Town of South Kingstown does for the unhoused populations, Murphy said. The town has alerts about the warming centers and has outreach programs that alert people to resources for finding temporary or permanent housing. Additionally, these same warming centers act as cooling centers during the summer months.
For more information about warming resources, visit the Town of South Kingstown website or contact the South Kingstown Public Safety Dispatch Center at 401-783-3321.