ROCHESTER, N.Y.  — On the coldest nights of the year, where do you usually find yourself? It’s likely at home. But for folks who don’t have a home, dropping temperatures can prove deadly.

The county runs a Code Blue program for people without homes. When temperatures get below 32 degrees, certain shelters become warming centers, and open their doors to anyone at all, at any time of day. For months, advocates and activists have been pushing officials to increase these services.

Wednesday, the county announced they’ve partnered with several nonprofits to increase the Code Blue services. 

They’ve added two new warming centers, for a total of four. They’ve also created a partnership with the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) to provide free bussing from the transit center on St. Paul Street to each of the four warming centers.

For folks coming elsewhere in the area, the county has bus passes to provide.

The centers — and the bus routes that stop at the centers — are as follows:

• Open Door Mission —210 W Main Street, RTS Routes: 16, 17,18,19,20
• Project Haven — Men, 720 W. Main Street, RTS Routes 16, 18, 23
• Project Haven —Women, 77 Barberry Terrace, RTS Route 5
• House of Mercy — 285 Ormond Street, RTS Route 3
• Opening on December 18: YWCA — 35 Ardmore Street, RTS Route 18

There are a total of 141 beds, up from 100 last year. With many shelters operating over capacity, advocates say they could always use more support. But representatives from the warming centers said they’re excited for the county’s support in increasing the program.

Monroe County Executive Adam Bello said that the county is also working to increase awareness of these centers, ensuring that nonprofits conducting outreach know where to send people.

“We’re going to do a lot more effort to engage people and connect them with things that may be able to help,” Bello said. “Because you can have more beds, you can have more sites, but if you can’t figure out how to connect people to those sites, they might as well not exist.”