Cold weather operation activated to provide support for the homeless
Given the generalised drop in temperatures in the city and in anticipation of them falling to almost zero degrees, the alert stage of the cold weather operation was activated on Tuesday, 6 January. In all, an additional 200 beds are being made available, and teams from the Urgent Care and Social Emergency Centre (CUESB), the Social Support Service for Homelessness in Public Space (SASSEP) and the Red Cross will be taking to the streets to contact homeless people and offer them the possibility of staying at a municipal centre.
The operation is dynamic and will adapt according to demand. For the moment, 200 beds are being made available at municipal facilities as follows:
- 100 places, 74 for men and 26 for women, at the Emergency Night Shelter (CANE), which have already been functioning as a temporary shelter since the preventive stage of the cold weather operation was activated on 2 December.
- 72 additional places at the same centre, plus a further 10 for men in emergency cases
- 18 additional places exclusively for men
The preventive stage of the cold weather operation is activated every year between December and March, bolstering existing services to provide homeless people with access to a space for occasional stays and social and health support. Since the preventive stage was activated on 2 December, 373 people have received support in coordination with the forty organisations making up the Support Network for the Homeless (XAPSLL).
