The Central Valley’s chilly evening temperatures are posing a challenge for Fresno’s homeless community looking to stay warm. On Monday, homeless advocates protested outside of the Ted C. Wills Community Center against the city’s guidelines for when to open warming centers.

On Monday, 60 homeless advocates, unhoused people and a local Fresno doctor gathered at the Ted C. Wills Community Center to urge city officials to raise the threshold for when the warming centers open.

Fresno advocates are warning that emergency rooms will suffer if the city does not keep warming centers open for longer, as the current threshold of 35 degrees may not be sufficient to prevent unhoused deaths and overcrowding in hospitals.