Chilling Out

Members of the Baton Rouge homeless community can always find comfort in the warmth of the St. Vincent de Paul Society day center during those blustery, wintry days.

Once the mercury dips to 39 or below, the center swings open its doors, offering a cot and heated accommodations for those in need.

But what about during the sweltering months of July and August when temperatures soar close to 100 degrees  and the heat index can reach dangerous levels of 105 to 110 degrees? For those living on the street, their only respite might be the shade of a park tree or the overhang of a business.

It’s a danger that Michael Acaldo, executive director of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, has recognized and has now dialed up a solution. Beginning in the summer, the day center will offer relief to the homeless once the heat index reaches a certain temperature, likely to be established at 95 to 100 degrees. Acaldo noted that Houston has a similar program, opening shelters when the heat index is 108 for two consecutive days.

“We are not going to do that hot,” he said. “Somewhere in that zone (95 to 100) we will open.

“Just like we do when it is getting below freezing, we are going to open up when the heat index is on the opposite side, that people can’t be  outside. Heat indexes are becoming ridiculous.”

Acaldo said the idea of providing shelter away from the heat during the summer has previously been discussed but not enacted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“But I think we are all comfortable the pandemic should be in the past,” he said.

He said once the temperatures begin to rise, the day center will engage its overflow plan and offer refuge for up to 36 people.

“That’s the thing,” Acaldo said. “Concrete gets hot during the day and it doesn’t cool down during the night. It will be a 24-hour response.”

The summer shelter program is expected to last from June through September, perhaps even launching later this month depending on the weather.

“We feel like the support and dollars will follow once we launch,” Acaldo said. “People are going to see the good that we are doing and they will be right with us just like they have been  with us.”

Acaldo said the heat shelter is one more example of the multi-faceted uses of the facility. He said the shelter has typically focused on providing shelter during hurricanes and freezing temperatures and “now that we have kind of succeeded there, we have also recognized what about these heat indexes that seems like they are going through the roof? And how do we need to respond there?”

Acaldo said the idea of providing shelter away from the heat was not necessarily an original goal of the center but the pandemic brought the realization of the need.

The 3,500-square-foot center, completed in 2020, is nestled against the Bishop Ott Sweet Dreams Shelter on the campus of St. Vincent de Paul. During Hurricane Laura in 2020, 17 homeless people, including one family that was passing through town, were housed in the facility. Acaldo said the agency would have been forced to turn those families away if not for the day facility.

The building, which checked in at a cost of a tad north of $1.3 million and was fully funded by the city of Baton Rouge through a state grant, offers several amenities, including bathrooms, showers and commercial grade washers and dryers. Meals are prepared by the staff of the St. Vincent dining room, which serves more than 200,000 meals annually

The center also provides a private space for students whose parents are staying in one of the agency’s homeless shelters to complete their homework.

Primarily functioning as a day facility, the center offers myriad of services to the homeless, including teaching life skills, job counseling, as well as helping individuals who need Social Security cards, birth certificates, identification and SNAP benefits.

The facility has a daytime capacity of 45 to 50 people and can house up to 36 at night, when the emergency cots are utilized.