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Local NewsDangers In The ColdBy Charles Benson
MILWAUKEE - No heat and the homeless. Both will be a concern this week. One shelter is already giving out sleeping bags and blankets.
At the Repairers of the Breach, the front door is now staying open 24 hours a day to give the homeless a warm place to sleep.
As guys play dominoes to past the time, Scott Pipito is just happy to be out of the cold.
"It’s warm in here," said Pepito, "I’ll be staying the night."
Last winter the shelter stayed open 14 nights. So far this winter it has been open 15 nights and we are heading into a very cold week.
The shelter is bracing for a big turnout. The basement is packed with sleeping bags and blankets.
"We do a lot with the dollars that we have but we are in desperate need of more blankets, hats, gloves sleeping bags," said Melita Biese a board member with Repairers of the Breach.
Staying warm will be the name of the game this week and that worries Milwaukee fire fighter Carlos Velazquez.
Heating homes with ovens and careless use of old space heaters can be deadly.
"If you are going to use them, plug them into wall, not to an extension cord," said Velazquez. "Make sure you don’t leave them on at night when you are sleeping.”
One man stopped by the shelter Monday for a warm meal. He picked up a sleeping bag and a blanket and, despite the advice from the shelter, will be spending the night out in the cold.
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