It will be bitterly cold in Massachusetts for the next several days and emergency shelters in Hampden county are reaching capacity because of it.
Geraldine McCafferty, Director of Housing for the city of Springfield, said there are a few overflow sites where people can go to seek shelter. McCafferty explained the reason there's been a rising number of unhoused individuals in shelters is because housing prices have spiked in the last few years.
"We're seeing sort of the direct correlation of people being displaced because they just can't pay rent,” McCafferty said. “That's what's put the pressure on the emergency shelter system. That has meant that what would have been adequate in prior years in terms of the existing number of beds is not this year."
Axel Fontanez, the housing director at Providence Ministries for the Needy in Holyoke, said they usually get a call from the emergency management team from the city of Holyoke to open chapel doors and let those in need seek shelter.
Fontanez said they opened their doors Wednesday night due to temperatures dropping to around 10 degrees, but is hoping to gain more resources to keep the shelter running throughout the winter.
“I'd love for the threshold to be above the degrees that it is because, you know, to me, at 10 degrees and 20 degrees it’s kind of like the same thing. It's cold,” Fontanez said.
He said there isn’t an emergency shelter in Holyoke and has been a big proponent of allocating resources to open one.
Gov. Maura Healey asked lawmakers for an additional 425 million dollars to continue funding Massachusetts' emergency shelter programs on Monday. The administration said they hope this will help reduce shelter costs that have stacked up to roughly 1 billion dollars between this year and last.
The Arctic cold blast gripping western Massachusetts is expected to stick around through the end of the work week.
Andrew LoConto is with the National Weather Service. He says wind chills during the day could be in the single digits, and as low as 10 below at night.
"The cold is being accompanied by strong winds which make it feel even worse," LoConto said.
He said temperatures could warm up a bit starting on Friday. But forecasters are keeping an eye on a coastal storm this weekend that could impact the region. He said the exact track of the weather system is uncertain right now, and that it could go to the south of New England.
LoConto added that those venturing out should be sure to keep exposed skin covered and to keep a blanket in the car incase they experience a breakdown or dead battery.
NEPM reporter Adam Frenier and the State House News Service contributed to some of the reporting in this article.
