UUCD Warming Center

WHO: Offered to all who need a warm place to stay overnight during freezing temperatures
WHAT: Free overnight warming center with bedding and food provided
WHERE: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of DeKalb,
158 N. Fourth St., DeKalb (Fourth & Locust Intersection)
WHEN: The warming center is now closed until next winter eason.

In January, 2024, the UUCD Board approved opening a free overnight warming center  in reponse to a proposal from  Marreen Buntaine, Director of the Community Empowerment Campaign, and Dan Kenney, a member of the church. The UUCD warming center fills a gap in the community warming center schedule where there was no one open overnight and everyone had to be out by 9 p.m.,

DeKalb County offers a number of warming centers across DeKalb, Sycamore and Genoa to name a few. Often they’re places such as public libraries or police departments. None of the DeKalb locations offer overnight hours, however. Hope Haven, 1145 Rushmoore Drive, DeKalb, is the area’s only shelter for people experiencing homelessness., but the shelter’s tireless and admirable effort to serve locals are often over-burdened due to capacity limits.