Shelter and warming center hours in Little Rock have been extended through Saturday morning as the capital prepares for up to 8 inches of snow.

Aaron SadlerCommunications director for the city of Little Rock said Wednesday that the Dunbar Community Center at 1001 W 16th St. will remain open as a 24-hour emergency shelter until 9 a.m. Saturday.

The city is also inviting people who need refuge from the cold to spend daylight hours at city community centers. These include the West Central Community Center at 8616 Colonel Glenn Road; Stephens Community Center, 3720 W. 18th St.; and Southwest Community Center at 6401 Baseline Road. They are all open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m

Anyone needing transportation to the Dunbar Community Center shelter can call The Van, a local homeless assistance organization, for a free ride. Their number is (501) 955-3444.

High stakes

Ensuring that vulnerable people have warm, safe places to go in the winter is a matter of life and death. The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office shared information Wednesday about a possible weather-related death earlier this week.

Joseph Campbell, a 52-year-old Pulaski County man whose address is listed as “homeless,” was found on the side of the road in the 1900 block of E. 46th Street just after 1 a.m. on Jan. 6. Temperatures in Little Rock dropped to 25 degrees that night. Campbell was found “with multiple plastic bags around him,” the sheriff’s office reports.

In Little Rock, people who want to stay overnight at a city-operated shelter must register for the overnight stay. According to Little Rock’s extreme cold weather shelter plan provided by Sadler, only service dogs and cats are permitted.

“This plan is a working document that may be modified or revised as necessary,” Sadler said in an email. “For example, the trigger portion of this document has already been amended to take into account ‘any winter weather event that is considered dangerous to the life safety of unprotected persons’.”

The portion of the plan Sadler is referring to currently states that temperatures fall to 15 degrees or below, or a “combination of subfreezing temperatures and precipitation” that is “deemed dangerous to the life safety” of Little Rock’s homeless population applies, accompanied by a Winter Storm Warning or Winter Weather Advisory National Weather Service would trigger the opening of the Dunbar shelter.

Discomfort and confusion

News of the expanded shelter plan Wednesday came as some advocates for central Arkansas’ unhoused population said Little Rock needs to communicate more clearly about what resources are available, where and when. Angry social media posters have called out the city for what they say are unclear or contradictory messages.

Some said the city’s notice left them unclear about whether the Dunbar Community Center would be open to people during the day to keep themselves warm or whether homeless people could only find shelter there at night.

Commenters expressed their confusion and frustration in a Facebook post written Wednesday by the Little Rock Department of Community Programs.

“Stop sending them out into the cold!!!! It should be open 24/7,” said one Facebook commenter.

Aaron ReddinFounder and CEO of The Van, also criticized communication about emergency shelter opening times in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning.

Supporters and volunteers of The Van were also upset this week by confusion over what food might be needed in the city’s shelters and who should provide it.

Little Rock has worked with Reddin and The Van to operate its shelters for the past several years. However, the van got into a dispute with city officials in March 2024 after the city refused to distribute tents to homeless residents as part of a homeless outreach event. Reddin, a critic of the city’s practice of razing tents in homeless camps, indicated he was wary of working with the city again.

In June 2024, Little Rock hired Michael Desalvo as the first chief homeless officer, a position funded for the first time in the 2024 city budget. As chief homeless officer, Desalvo is responsible for managing the shelter and coordinating operations at the shelter. City employees will serve as shelter staff.