Ames Warming Place Extends Season Three Months
The overnight shelter will now stay open until March and may open as early as Nov. 10 when temperatures drop to 10 degrees or below.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Current Conditions
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The Ames Warming Place, based at Ames First United Methodist Church, has extended its overnight shelter season by three months. The shelter opens on select nights when temperatures are forecasted to be 10 degrees or below.
Why it matters
Extending the season gives people who lack housing a warm place to sleep during a longer stretch of cold weather in Ames. The shelter's first season showed sustained demand across 27 days.
The shelter opened for 27 days during its first season, serving as many as 15 guests on a single night against a capacity of 20. It operated 17 consecutive days during the January to March cold period, but the exact number of nights it will open in the extended season remains unspecified.
The players
Ames First United Methodist Church
The Ames congregation at 516 Kellogg Ave. hosts the Warming Place shelter and is one of the organizing partners.
Mary Greeley Medical Center
A hospital in Ames that is one of the partner organizations collaborating to operate the Warming Place.
The Salvation Army
A national charitable organization that is one of the partners operating the Warming Place in Ames.
The details
The Warming Place is operated by a collaboration including Ames Romero House, The Bridge Home, The Salvation Army, Mary Greeley Medical Center, the City of Ames, Story County Emergency Management, and Ames First United Methodist. The shelter does not feed guests or accept minors, and volunteers handle overnight check-in and next-day cleanup.
Timeline
Jan. 16: The Warming Place first opened for 27 days.
Mid-March: The first season ended.
November 2025: The organizing group first met to plan the shelter.
Nov. 10: The Warming Place may open for the new season.
March: The extended season is scheduled to end.
Seasonal Patterns
The shelter's first season ran 27 days within the January to March cold period, and extending operations to March and possibly November aligns the Warming Place with the cold-weather window that its partner organizations have planned around. The shelter serves as a seasonal response, opening only when forecasts reach the 10-degree threshold rather than running year-round.
Residents who want to volunteer to stay overnight, check guests in, or help clean up the following day can find volunteer information at the Warming Place's website. Anyone who cannot reach the shelter should note that it does not accept minors and families are directed to other nonprofits for motel rooms.
The takeaway
Cold-weather shelters depend on coordinated volunteers and partners to open quickly when temperatures fall. Knowing the 10-degree opening threshold helps residents plan for nights when the shelter may open on short notice.
What happens next
The Warming Place may open as early as Nov. 10 when temperatures are forecasted to be 10 degrees or below.
Further reading
For more on local cold-weather readiness, see Current Conditions in Ames.
More information
Find volunteer details on the Warming Place volunteer information page.
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