With subzero temperatures in the weather forecast, an agency serving the homeless in Champaign-Urbana is gearing up to offer daytime shelter from the cold. The Phoenix Drop-In Center in Champaign is expanding its hours this week to provide a place for people who are homeless to get warm.
The nighttime sub-zero temperatures that central Illinois is currently experiencing is particularly bad news for the area’s homeless population. Rob Dalhaus says he’s seeing an increase in people coming to the Phoenix Daytime Drop-In Center in Champaign during the day.
The community has lost 95 emergency beds for homeless men since the start of 2016 because of budget cuts. There is a plan in the works to replace 30 of those beds in January through March of 2017.
