A stretch of freezing nights is expected to hit Atlanta this weekend.
In years past, downtown Atlanta’s Peachtree-Pine shelter, for all its flaws, could take almost a thousand people at times like this. With it gone, the city said it plans to activate up to 125 emergency cold weather beds as well as several warming centers.
“When you lose 300- or 400-bed spaces, what are you going to replace it with?” said Raphael Holloway who heads the Gateway Center, which is coordinating the city’s efforts. “That takes some planning. It takes some financial support and the city has been working with others in the community to raise funds to do that.”
In the meantime, Holloway said the Gateway Center can take in about 60 extra people on cold nights, but he said that space can fill up by mid-afternoon as the temperature drops. It’s shuttling some across town to find people warm places to sleep.
Still, advocates said the cold will hit the city’s homeless population especially hard this year.
