Silver City, NM — Anticipating another chilly winter, the nonprofit Silver City Street Outreach will be hosting this year's Emergency Warming Center at our location on College Avenue. The Warming Center is being established with the express purpose to prevent deaths from hypothermia and will be a place where the unhoused community and others can receive hot meals and drinks and stay in a warm safe environment.
The Silver City Warming Center will be open on nights of extreme cold, defined as any night when temperatures fall below forty degrees. The Center will operate overnight to provide safe shelter and warm meals, and during the daytime it will continue to function as a Community Peer Advocacy Drop-in Center. Through this program, Silver City Street Outreach will continue helping guests connect with basic needs resources, drug and alcohol recovery options, mental health services, job opportunities, and pathways to permanent housing.
Executive Director Brian Stengel, a WNMU graduate in both psychology and chemical dependency counseling, a Licensed Substance Abuse Associate, Certified Peer Support Worker, and Comprehensive Community Support Services provider, will oversee the project.
Stengel has been serving the Silver City unhoused population since 2016 and previously helped manage the overnight Men's Winter Shelter for two consecutive seasons in 2017 and 2018. Under his leadership, the Silver City Cooling Center has already demonstrated strong successes in de-escalating mental health crises, diverting those in need from law enforcement involvement, connecting people to drug and alcohol treatment options, and providing supportive services to our unhoused since June of this year.
This warming center will be a completely different concept in the community while working from a trauma-informed lens and compassionate focus. Volunteers will play an essential role in this mission, while consistently ensuring that guests feel welcome, safe, and supported.
Community Involvement & Volunteer Opportunities
Silver City Street Outreach, a tax-exempt nonprofit, is highly encouraging volunteers and donors to support this life-saving initiative. Beginning October 1st, shifts will be available during cold weather from 7:00 pm to midnight and midnight to 7:00 am. Volunteers can get involved in many ways onsite and from home such as assisting with washing bedding, preparing food, providing snacks, or helping us clean the facility.
Those interested can visit the Drop-in Center at 215 W. College Ave. or call 575-519-5810 for more information.
We also kindly invite all elected officials in Grant County to come and spend some time with us! Because public safety is our top priority, we strongly encourage the support of our first responders—including EMS, Fire, Sheriff, and Silver City Police—in both their official and personal capacities. The public is welcome to visit anytime, and all donations of supplies, food, and bedding are greatly appreciated.
Silver City Street Outreach thanks the community for the overwhelming support shown during this summer's Cooling Center and looks forward to expanding these efforts this winter through the Emergency Warming Center.
