As she cleaned up shop for the afternoon, Cheryl Johns, assistant director of the Beans and Bread Homeless Day Resource Center in Southeast Baltimore, gazed out the facility’s windows at Baltimore’s first snowfall of the season.
She watched as her clients shuffled out of the facility — one of five designated warming centers across Baltimore City operating during citywide Code Purple and Code Blue Extreme Cold Alerts for wind chill temperatures of 13 degrees or below.
City data shows that during the 2024-25 winter season, Baltimore experienced 74 winter shelter declarations and 25 Code Blue days.
Johns says her facility extends its hours during these alerts to offer people experiencing homelessness a warm place to stay, eat and shower from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
“Last year, I don’t recall it being this cold this fast,” said Johns, “but right now, we’re just trying to get the word out that we are open as a warming center this season.”
She said that while Beans and Bread has seen a steady flow of people seeking services, she believes the city could do more to notify people experiencing homelessness across Baltimore about services offered by the city and other providers.
The Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services’ winter shelter plan outlines its strategy to engage in street outreach through its People Encouraging People and Downtown Partnership of Baltimore teams, who traverse the city to inform unsheltered individuals without internet access about shelter availability.
These teams also work to provide direct services like safety checks as well as food, water, blankets and warm clothing, and complete crisis evaluations in some cases when individuals do not accept those services to protect people from cold-related injury.
According to the Office of Homeless Services’ 2024 annual report, its employees and service provider partners served more than 1,300 residents at warming centers across the city during the winter season.
However, that season also saw six hypothermia or cold-related deaths in Baltimore.
Finding shelter
James Sparrow, 58, told The Baltimore Sun that he found Beans and Bread through word of mouth after being homeless for more than a year. He is one of more than 21,000 people served by homelessness services in Baltimore, according to the city’s 2025 Point-in-Time Count.
“These services saved my life,” Sparrow said. “It showed me how to get housing, it fed me, clothed me and when I needed to talk, somebody is always there.”
He said that when he gets off his shift as a trash collector for the city, he takes the Charm City Circulator to Beans and Bread to relax before going to a shelter for the night.
While Beans and Bread operates only during the day, the city’s Office of Homeless Services offers free transportation to overnight emergency shelters, including MCVET at 301 N. High St., Weinberg Housing and Resource Center at 620 Fallsway and the Sleep Inn & Suites hotel at 301 Fallsway.
Johns said she and her staff are worried about a potential influx of people experiencing homelessness in Baltimore and across Maryland as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development implements sweeping cuts to permanent housing funding.
Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day warned that these cuts could increase statewide homelessness by 25%.
Earlier this week, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced city-funded initiatives to provide permanent housing for youths and young families at risk of homelessness. Gov. Wes Moore also outlined further support for families with children in community schools who are facing homelessness through of statewide rental assistance funds.
Have a news tip? Contact Mathew Schumer at mschumer@baltsun.com, 443-890-7423 or @mmmschumer on X.
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