CLEARFIELD—The Davis County Warming Center has been open for almost two months and so far there has only been one night that was considered a Code Blue event, which is when the National Weather Service predicts temperatures will drop below 18 degrees. However, as temperatures start to drop county officials expect more Code Blue events and they are ready.

The county purchased Talia (events center) at 22 E. 200 S. in Clearfield as the location for the Warming Center. This year the county is required to provide 30 beds, up from the 16 bed requirement last year. 

“It will be our location going forward,” said Davis County Community Services Manager, Ryan Steinbeigle in a previous interview. “No taxpayer funds were used for the purchase. It came from Davis County Health Department capital funds.”  

The first Code Blue was Sunday, Nov. 30, said Steinbeigle. “No one came so we closed early. It’s possible we might have another one on Dec. 3.”

Last year there were two people per four hour shift, he said. “We’re going to try and get three volunteers instead of two because this year we have 30 beds instead of 16. I have no idea what to expect, last year our biggest number was 20 but we did have 42 unique individuals access the warming center at some point.” 

Steinbeigle said he thinks there will be bigger numbers this year. “More people know about it and we’re in a community where there is more homelessness. We have 50 cots here so if we need to expand we can but we’ll start with 30.”

Rather than pick up locations like last year, the county is giving out UTA bus passes, he said. “It’s bus 470 and they can hop on and hop off.”

Currently there are 300 volunteers, said Steinbeigle. “We’ll take anybody who wants to volunteer. Shifts are 7 p.m. – 11:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m. – 3:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m.”

Open Doors has a street outreach program, he said. “They know where to find people who are experiencing homelessness and let them know about the center. So far the project has been going pretty smoothly.”

To volunteer contact Steinbeigle directly at 801-451-3495 email [email protected] or go to https://groupme.com/join_group/104292050/Lyfuw4cY to be added to the volunteer GroupMe. For more information visit dhhs.ut.gov/codeblueutah.