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- By Native News Online Staff
An Indigenous-led emergency warming center and overnight shelter has opened in south Minneapolis as subzero temperatures grip the region and federal law enforcement activity intensifies across the city, organizers said.
The Minneapolis American Indian Center’s Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) and Nenookaasi Ozhige announced they are now operating a warming center in the Phillips neighborhood at 2300 15th Ave. S., near Franklin Avenue, providing immediate refuge to people facing life-threatening cold.
The opening comes as more than 3,000 federal agents are operating in Minneapolis and the region, according to organizers, and after four members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe were recently detained. At the same time, the city’s formal shelter system is at capacity, leaving many people with nowhere to go.
“This is an emergency within an emergency,” organizers said in a statement, citing both the surge in federal activity and the extreme weather.
Two people have already died from exposure in Minneapolis this month, according to community advocates, heightening concerns as temperatures drop below zero this week.
To help meet the growing need, Avivo Village, a nearby transitional housing community, will open 20 overflow beds starting tonight, Jan. 22. The additional beds will double overnight capacity for emergency shelter in partnership with the Indigenous-led warming center.
Organizers said the effort is being funded largely through community donations. The partners are more than halfway toward their shared fundraising goal of $195,950 but still need to raise about $95,950 to keep the warming center and overflow shelter operating through Feb. 20.
“Without this support, people will be left in dangerous conditions,” the organizations said.
The warming center is open now and accepting guests as temperatures and wind chills reach potentially deadly levels across the Twin Cities.
Community members and organizations interested in supporting the effort are being urged to contribute funds or supplies to help sustain operations through the coldest weeks of winter.
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