Prado center in SLO to open tonight as warming center for homeless people

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• SLO day center for homeless people hopes to open when weather turns bad

  SLO day center for homeless people hopes to open when weather turns bad

  With temperatures plummeting and the rainy season approaching, the Prado Day Center in San Luis Obispo is making plans to give homeless people extra shelter by staying stay open at night when the weather gets nasty.

  The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to spend $5,000 – half of what the center needs – to keep it open as needed through the winter. Dee Torres, director of homeless services, said she hops the city of San Luis Obispo and others can chip in.

  “We’re kind of scrambling,” Torres said. “I can’t promise (it will be open) tonight.”

• Prado Day Center to open warming station because of rain in forecast

  Prado Day Center to open warming station because of rain in forecast

  The Prado Day Center Warming Station, which serves homeless individuals, is being activated Wednesday and Thursday nights because of a forecast of significant rainfall, shelter officials have announced.

• Safe parking programs would benefit homeless

  Safe parking programs would benefit homeless

  Pinning down the number of homeless people in our county is a near-impossible task; experts point out that the best we can do is provide a “snapshot in time.” The most recent “snapshot” was taken Jan. 26, 2011, when 3,774 homeless individuals were counted in San Luis Obispo County — nearly half of them children.

  Given the economy, that number has almost certainly increased. Yet we have not been able to keep pace by providing more services and facilities — at least not yet. Major efforts are under way to build new facilities in two communities: a homeless campus on Prado Road in San Luis Obispo and a day shelter in the Five Cities area.

  Both projects are years away, and in the meantime, there’s an immediate need to provide at least some form of rudimentary shelter, especially in these cold and wet winter months. Opening “warming stations” on the bitterest nights is a start, but we can do more. One of the easiest and least expensive alternatives is to offer safe, secure parking lots for people living out

• Cold-weather relief needed for homeless

  Cold-weather relief needed for homeless

  How cold was it? On Tuesday night, it was a frigid 21 degrees in Creston; 30 in Nipomo; and 36 in San Luis Obispo. Temperatures were forecast to be only slightly higher Wednesday night.

  To state the obvious, it is December, and low temperatures are to be expected. Given that, we wonder why local officials weren’t better prepared to open an overnight warming station for homeless people when temperatures dipped this week.

  The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors did allocate $5,000 Tuesday so that Prado Day Center in San Luis Obispo could keep its doors open at night, but that covers only half the budget for the program. The county hopes that the city of San Luis Obispo and the Friends of Prado will contribute the remainder of the funds.

• Prado Day Center to open warming station for homeless

  Prado Day Center to open warming station for homeless

  The Prado Day Center warming station for the homeless will be open tonight and Friday night because significant rainfall has been forecast, according to a news release.

  Meals and shelter will be provided for up to 50 people each night, and the center is in need of food donations. Donations can be sent to 43 Prado Road, San Luis Obispo.

  For details, email dtorres@capslo.org or call 541-6351 ext. *822.