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At least 5 homeless people died during cold, wet spell in San Jose
Homeless advocates are calling for changes to keep people off the streets before the next winter storm hits San Jose. During the recent stretch of rain and chilly temperatures, at least five people who are homeless perished.
SAN JOSE - Homeless advocates in San Jose are outraged, following news that nearly half a dozen people died on the streets during this week's rainy, cold weather.
While advocates want answers about what went wrong, city officials are scrambling to open warming centers before the next storm arrives.
Dropping temperatures and an atmospheric river took their toll on San Jose's homeless population.
City officials confirm at least five people have died this week. Homeless advocates believe a sixth passed away overnight.
"They're dying from exposure. They're dying because they're out in the cold. They're out in the rain and your body can only take so much," says advocate Shaunn Cartwright of the Unhoused Response Group.
This weather was no surprise. And advocates say they had begged authorities to take action, to open warming centers before the storm arrived. The response they got was "Crickets!" says Cartwright. "They should have listened to the advocates because we knew this was going to happen."
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San Jose officials say they've been doing the best they can with the resources they have. They sent outreach teams to encampments before the storm.
But they admit, after a week like this, they do look at what else could have been done.
"We are always reevaluating and reconsidering new opportunities, new responses. So it's really an ongoing process," says Jeff Scott, spokesperson for the San Jose Housing Department.
And they are making some changes. Authorities already had plans to open two overnight warming locations or "Owls" this month.
They're now opening one of them sooner.
"We moved up the open date for the Evergreen branch library owl to this Friday because we're anticipating more cold and wet weather this weekend so we wanted to get a jump on that," says Scott.
While homeless advocates say they're glad for the change, they wish it had come before the storm, for the sake of the people who died on the streets.
"How do you explain that? How do you justify that? How do you say ‘oh my bad.’ Now they're going to be opening warming centers, but that's just too late," says Cartwright.
One warming location, at the Leininger Community Center, opens Dec 20th. The Evergreen Branch library location opens Friday. Both will be open each night through next April. You do need a referral to stay at the warming centers.
The phone number for OWL referrals is 408-510-7600. Individuals can also send email to outreach@homefirstscc.org.
In addition to cold weather shelters, officials say there 1,972 shelter beds countywide that are open all year.