On Monday, Nov. 28, Room at the Inn will begin providing overnight emergency shelter services and Turning Point will begin offering overnight warming center and Sunday homeless drop-in center services.
Room at the Inn's winter 2022-2023 overnight shelter will open Monday, Nov. 28 and run through April 2, 2023.
The shelter will be open from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. on Sundays.
Room at the Inn will operate in the City of Columbia's recently acquired Ashley St. Center located at 1509 Ashley St.
Starting Nov. 28, City buses will be available to get to and from Room at the Inn as Go COMO Transit will extend the orange route to the Ashley Street Center on weekdays and on Saturdays.
Shuttles from the Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen to the Room at the Inn shelter will be provided on Saturday and Sunday evenings.
The City of Columbia has contracted with Turning Point to provide overnight warming center services at Wilkes Boulevard United Methodist Church, 702 Wilkes Blvd.
The Turning Point overnight warming center services will be available from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Nov. 28 through April 2 when temperatures are forecasted by the National Weather Service to be 25 degrees Fahrenheit or below.
The overnight warming center will serve as a refuge of last resort for persons unable or unwilling to access local emergency shelter services.
City and Turning Point staff will continue to coordinate closely with homeless service providers to ensure low barrier access to overnight emergency shelter as the preferred option.
Turning Point will also be offering additional homeless drop-in center services on Sunday afternoons from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. between Dec. 4, 2022 and April 2, 2023, with the exception of Dec. 25, 2022 and Jan. 1, 2023 when Room at the Inn will remain open all day.
Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services also coordinates a network of warming centers in the community.
Columbia's warming centers include:
- ARC (Activity and Recreation Center), 1701 W. Ash St.
- City Hall, 701 East Broadway
- Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services, 1005 W. Worley St.
- Columbia Public Library, 100 W. Broadway
- Salvation Army, 1108 W. Ash St.
- Salvation Army Harbor House, 602 N. Ann St.
- St. Francis House, 901 Range Line St.
For more information about warming centers and emergency shelters visit the city of Columbia's website.