Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz joins Department of Social Services Commissioner Karen Rybicki and others from the WNY Coalition for the Homeless to announce the start of the Code Blue program.
Code Blue is the emergency weather safety plan for the City of Buffalo and Erie County that provides outreach, transportation, shelter, and a warm meal to any individual experiencing homelessness or a housing emergency on evenings when temperatures or wind chill falls to 32 degrees or below. The goal of Code Blue is to eliminate winter weather related deaths in Buffalo & Erie County and last year the program served 900 individuals.
This year’s Code Blue Overnight Shelter is located at The Buffalo City Mission (100 East Tupper St. Buffalo) and is open to all men and women in need of shelter during the cold weather season.
Code Blue will also include a Day Time Warming Center (8am-8pm) at the City Mission when daytime temperatures or wind chills fall below 32 degrees.
Call 211 to find out if Code Blue is in effect or text ‘CodeBlueBuffalo’ to 898-211 to sign up for alerts.
