MADISON, Ind. (WDRB) – Park bathrooms will serve as makeshift homeless shelters this winter in Madison — though city officials and homeless advocates acknowledged the situation is far from ideal.
Bathrooms at Bicentennial Park will be used to house the homeless from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on nights when the temperature drops below freezing.
The city made the decision in part because of a shortage of resources and volunteers at the Salvation Army, which normally would house the homeless but needs more volunteers to monitor the guests.
Bicentennial Park’s bathrooms are usually closed during winter, but the Mayor said the city had to make an exception to provide the homeless at least some form of shelter.
“What we ended up doing at a city policy level was opening our own warming shelters so that the vulnerable people in our community can seek shelter from frigid temperatures and at least stay warm,” said Mayor Bob Courtney. “This is just an interim step for us to protect life without some other alternative.”
The bathrooms, just a few blocks from the Salvation Army, are lit, heated, and near other resources such as food programs and churches. In the mornings the city plans to clean and lock the bathrooms.
Courtney said that although the park is near most of the shops and restaurants, providing shelter to the homeless won't affect businesses.
“From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. allows us to do it in a time frame where there generally isn’t any tourism,” the mayor told WDRB News.
In the meantime, Lt. Stephanie Hartley, of the Salvation Army, will prep winter jackets, hats and scarves for those who need it — just not at night.
“It’s not just opening our door to strangers. It’s opening doors to people who are here every day who are your neighbor. You want to take care of them,” she said.
The Salvation Army hopes it can reopen its space at night if it gets enough volunteers in the next couple weeks.
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