In the face of potentially lethal sub-zero cold the city has set up warming centers and non-profit groups have stepped up efforts

Most days, Ray Holleb leaves the Chicago homeless shelter he has lived at the past two months for a nearby Starbucks to work on his writing.

But as a deep freeze has plunged the city to historically frigid temperatures, Holleb has stayed in, sipping a hot coffee in the shelter’s common room and counting his blessings that he didn’t have to be outside in the potentially lethal cold.

“It was brutally cold outside [yesterday],” said Holleb, one of about three dozen members of the Lincoln Park Community Services interim housing community, in the basement of a Presbyterian church on Chicago’s North Side. “I was grateful to have a place.”

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The polar vortex that spread across the midwest this week has made a tundra of Chicago and other cities, delivering an arctic blast that dropped temperatures close to 50F below zero in some places. While the weather poses a danger to everyone here, it is especially risky for the homeless population – many of whom don’t always have access to shelter.

According to a 2010 report from the National Coalition for the Homeless, at least 700 people “experiencing or at risk of homelessness” die each year from hypothermia in the US. And with extreme cold of the kind Chicago is experiencing this week, the threat can seem even more pronounced.

“It’s insane the amount of pain you feel out there,” said Holleb, who ventured out on Tuesday as the mercury began falling and frigid winds howled through Chicago.

In the face of the dangerous cold, the city and non-profit groups have been working to ensure that it keeps homeless Chicagoans safe.

The city is currently operating six warming centers, two of which will be open 24 hours a day, and using buses and public buildings as warming facilities.

Dan Hula, executive director of the LPCS, said his organization has not only worked to ensure it protects its residents, but also to raise awareness among homeless individuals about their options and among the broader population about ways they can help.

“The biggest thing is just to not ignore it,” Hula said.

The LPCS shelter has existed for more than 30 years, and has been housed at the Lincoln Park Presbyterian church for about 10 now. A clean, inviting space with 35 beds, provides indefinite, temporary housing – which means clients can stay on a longer-term basis and don’t need to leave during the day, as some other shelters require.

While that gives its guests a greater degree of stability, Hula said, that’s not the case with every shelter – and a burst of frigid weather like this one stretches the city’s ability to handle the problem.

“There’s never enough beds,” Hula said. “There’s never enough shelter. We need housing.”

And while Chicago has been getting better, he added, homelessness remains a major problem here – and one that doesn’t have easy short-term solutions. “Every situation, every story, is unique,” he said.

The temperatures – which plummeted to more than 20 below zero without wind chill, and over 50 below with it, on the city’s north side – were among the coldest ever in the city. The weather closed schools and businesses, and suspended some public services, including mail delivery in Chicago and some of the surrounding areas.

Alisa Rodriguez, deputy commissioner of homeless services in Chicago, said the city’s warming centers have seen an influx of people in the midst of the dangerous cold and that the city has been able to handle the rush smoothly.

“We’re holding steady,” Rodriguez said by phone. “We are seeing folks take advantage of our services, which is really what we want.”

Rodriguez told the Guardian that the city’s response to the “crisis” has been a collaborative effort between the department of family and support services, the Chicago police department, the Chicago Transit Authority, and other agencies. Rodriguez also said that the city is conducting outreach to ensure the safety of those who aren’t seeking help on their own.

“If people don’t come to us,” Rodriguez said, “Chicago will come to you.”

Holleb was safe as the sun began to fall over the city late on Wednesday afternoon, but said he was worried about friends he had made at the shelter in the past might not be. This weather, he said, had made him think about “how close to death” you could get on the streets.

“Just to be inside is a blessing,” Holleb said. “It’s a good feeling just to know you’ve got somewhere to go.”