DETROIT ─ The Pope Francis Center Bridge House Facility on Detroit’s westside has opened as an emergency shelter due to low overnight temperatures.
The Bridge Housing Facility, located at 2915 W. Hancock St., just west of the intersection of Grand River and West Warren avenues, has allowed overnight guests to stay on Sunday, Feb. 16, and will do so again on Monday, Feb. 17, when the low is expected to be 4 degrees.
The center will have 50 cots available in the gymnasium, where guests will have access to blankets, meals, bathroom and shower facilities. Private areas for women are also provided.
The decision to open the facility to overnight guests comes a week after two children who authorities believed died of hypothermia while staying with their homeless mother and other siblings in a van in the Hollywood Casino at Greektown parking garage.
“The tragic deaths of two children last week bring home the need for us to work together as a community to ensure that everyone in our city has a warm, safe place to spend the night,” said Fr. Tim McCabe, SJ, president and CEO of the Pope Francis Center. “We are pleased to work with the City of Detroit to have our new Bridge Housing Campus serve as an important resource during times of need.”
The Pope Francis Center opened its bridge housing facility June 3. The 40-unit facility provides comprehensive social services to chronically homeless individuals as they make their journey towards more permanent supporting housing.
The Pope Francis Center has been operating since 1990, previously called the SS. Peter and Paul Warming Center, out of the SS. Peter and Paul (Jesuit) Parish in downtown Detroit.
The Pope Francis Center regularly serves more than 200 guests a day with meals, shower facilities and counseling from outside professionals with housing, legal, medical and dental needs.
