Passaic brings homeless out of the cold with ‘Dignity’
Winter’s deadly cold stops at the door of the old firehouse on the corner of Broadway and Linden Street in Passaic, which the city has converted into a temporary homeless shelter in an effort to lure people off the streets amid a deepening freeze.
The floorboards have a few holes in them and the place is dimly lit, but there are cots, a television, a place to wash, and food that’s been donated. And on Thursday, with the winds whipping and the snow swirling in white-out conditions, city officials searched Passaic’s parks and river banks for homeless people and brought them to what is now dubbed Dignity House.
Mayor Hector C. Lora said the facility is technically a warming station, not a homeless shelter, which would require state approvals. But Lora said he plans to keep Dignity House open beyond this weekend’s cold weather emergency.
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