Pine Street Inn Shelter Recruits Homeless Men Ahead of Life-Threatening Weather Conditions

Photo courtesy of Franco Folini via Flickr

BOSTON — Homeless men in Boston will have a warm place to stay during the dangerously low temperatures forecasted for the weekend.

Workers at Pine Street Inn Shelter are canvassing the streets on a 24-hour basis reaching out to those who are homeless ahead of the freezing temperatures and trying to persuade them to come inside.

Despite already being over capacity, the Inn’s outreach team — which consists of more than 100 people — is not turning anyone away.

“Although we will run out of beds, we will accommodate people on cots and mats in our lobbies and will work closely with the city and other providers to ensure that everyone will have a safe, warm place to go,” the director of communications at the Inn, Barbara V. Trevisan, told Patch.

“No one will be turned out in the cold,” Trevisan said adding that most of those on the street in this weather are severely mentally ill, and staff are trained in ways to reach them.

Pine Street staff also work closely with police and EMS to help get people off the streets. 

Temperatures are expected to reach -35 degrees over the weekend. A few daily record lows are possible Sunday morning.