The temporary reception centre for single men opened in the Brussels municipality Schaerbeek by the French-speaking Red Cross in early January will remain open in February as well.
In January, the centre accounted for almost 3,150 overnight stays of homeless people as part of the "Extreme Cold Plan", an initiative of the Brussels government to provide shelter to homeless people in freezing temperatures. Some 120 beds of the 150 originally envisaged are operational.
Single men can stay at the Schaerbeek centre for up to a week. They can also go there 24 hours a day, but they have to call the dispatching of the homeless organisation Samusocial to sign up. Besides shelter and meals, counselling is also offered.
The Red Cross estimates the number of homeless people in Brussels at around 10,000.
