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Cold Drives Up Number of Homeless Seeking Shelter

By Beacon Staff

HELENA — The bitter cold is driving homeless people into shelters at record numbers.

Eran Fowler-Pehan, executive director of the Poverello Center in Missoula, says 119 people checked into the center’s shelter this weekend.

She says is the highest number in more than 30 years the center has operated, and similar numbers of people have shown up each night this week.

Fowler-Pehan says the shelter has beds for 68 people, but it doesn’t turn anybody away.

People are left to find space on the floor for themselves and their bedrolls.

She says the center also is sending outreach teams to find homeless people and persuade them to stay indoors instead of in tents.