DENVER — When you are outside and it is cold, does it matter if it's 32 degrees or 10 degrees?
What about four inches of snow compared to six inches?
That distinction used to matter to the city of Denver. Which, until today, limited when it would open emergency warming centers based on those criteria. That is, until medical professionals called the city out.
Emergency warming centers (cooling centers in the summer) are recreation centers that the city opens for anyone to escape the weather extremes.
At a Denver City Council committee today dealing with safety and homelessness, councilmembers were given an outdated presentation on when warming centers would open.
"In the cold, where temperatures are expected to be below 10 degrees, or six inches or more of snow forecasted," said Angie Nelson, Deputy Director of Denver's Department of Housing Stability.
Within 15 minutes, the council committee was told that is no longer the target temperature or snow level.
"We've modified those criteria as of this morning, to factor in, not only the overnight low temperature, which is 10 degrees, but also the daytime high temperature. Because if it doesn't rebound very much, you're cold all the time," said Gregg Thomas from Denver's Department of Public Health and Environment. "The issue with snow. We have a criterion in there, winter storm watch, six inches or more, [but] if it snows four inches, that's probably not that much better than if it snows six inches. This is a work in progress, I guess is my answer."
Medical professionals wanted council to find out why these arbitrary thresholds existed in the first place.
Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca led the effort to get the answer.
"How did we get to those numbers? Who informed that?" CdeBaca asked.
"I'll just remind that shelters for folks experiencing homelessness are available every day of the year, regardless of the weather," Nelson said.
Yes, shelters like Denver Rescue Mission, are available overnight, but the question was about emergency warming centers.
"Are these thresholds informed by health? Impacts? Public health impacts? Medical research? I know at the time when I was looking at this, 20 years ago, there wasn't a lot," Thomas said.
"I would like to see revisions to these numbers, ASAP. Thank you," CdeBaca said.
In a statement following the meeting, a spokesman with the Housing Stability Department said, "Our teams will be working to reevaluate those thresholds in the coming weeks."
"To somebody who is unsheltered and staying on the streets, cold is cold and wet is wet," Dr. Sarah Axelrath, a street medicine physician, said. "We are already ready to see cases of frostbite. I treated one in clinic today."
"It's not even worth talking about what temperature it is. If it's cold outside, it's cold outside," Stephen Hinkel of the Denver Rescue Mission said.
The Denver Rescue Mission is one of the shelters those experiencing homelessness can access overnight, when the city is not operating a daytime warming center.
Though, shelters are limited by capacity, up to a couple hundred.
"We would definitely welcome anybody," Hinkel said. "It's really up to the individual if they want to seek shelter or not."
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