CINCINNATI — The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition activated a pop-up daytime warming shelter at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday 

“It’s dangerously cold. We had a bad snow day on Friday and people are still living outdoors without a place to call home,” Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition's Director of Organizing Rico Blackman said.  

What You Need To Know

  • The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition activated a pop-up daytime warming shelter at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday 

  • The pop-up location was a result of the city's daytime warming shelter closing on Saturday 

  • GCHC served nearly 200 unhoused people at the pop-up location

That’s what Blackman said sprung the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition into action. The coalition activated a pop-up daytime warming shelter on Sunday. The pop-shelter was open from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

People had access to free food, cold weather essentials like hats and coats, and personal care items that were provided by the Coalition for Community Safety. 

“It took a group effort to make it all happen,” Blackman said.  

The pop-up location was the only option for unhoused individuals to stay warm until the evening when other resources became available. The city closed its daytime warming shelter at the Over-The-Rhine Recreation Center on Saturday.

At the eleventh hour, Christ Church Cathedral would lend a helping hand. 

“We heard that there was some space needed for Sunday morning. Of course, that’s a busy time for us, but we said come on. We didn’t know what we’d do or how we’d get the supplies together, but we’d do it,” Christ Church Cathedral Sub-Dean Paul Williams said.  

Wesley Coleman is a volunteer with the coalition and was homeless just two years ago. Now that he’s in a better situation, he said that it was important for him to give back.

“Violence comes from people being homeless. They don’t have anyone loving them or being there for them. We could shed light on that. Then the homeless probably wouldn’t be such a problem in Cincinnati,” Coleman said.  

Blackman said that GCHC’s goal is to help eradicate homelessness in the area. With nearly 200 people served at the pop-up shelter on Sunday, he told us their work is far from over. 

“Not just work that will help a person for a day. We want to help people for the rest of our time here in Cincinnati. We want to help everyone forever, which means getting everybody into a home,” he said.  

The coalition also thanked Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney for her help with opening the warming shelter.