Tonya Sands checks people into the Lewiston winter warming center Saturday before the center opened at 8 p.m.  Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — The new emergency warming center run by Kaydenz Kitchen at the former Schemengees Bar and Grill opened its doors at 8 p.m. Friday for the first time this season.

Staff and volunteers raved on social media about how the first night at the warming center at 551 Lincoln St. went off without a hitch, accommodating some 35 people seeking a safe and warm place to spend the night.

Kaydenz Kitchen Food Pantry is a local nonprofit that provides meal packages and other essentials for community members in need.

As Kaydenz Kitchen Director Kevin Boilard was in a frenzy Saturday evening, preparing to make van runs to Kennedy Park for people seeking the center, Linda Scott, a warming center staff member and former city councilor, said the rumors are true: everyone loves the center and operations ran smoothly.

Scott said the center saw many of the same people who utilized last year’s warming center at Calvary United Methodist Church at 59 Sabattus St. The comments about the new center were “overwhelmingly positive,” Scott said.

Colleena “Lee” Burns, left, April Stanley, center, and Will Merrill spend time Sunday morning on the steps of the Calvary United Methodist Church in Lewiston. Burns, Stanley and Merrill spent the night at the Lewiston winter warming center Saturday night and were given a ride into downtown Sunday morning by Kevin Boilard of the warming center. “The floor was completely full of people sleeping,” Stanley said about the warming center on Saturday night. “They are really good people,” Merrill said about the warming center staff. “If it was not for the warming center, I don’t know where we would be,” said Burns. “You can’t hide from the cold.” Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

“They thought that the space was great, they felt it was spacious,” Scott said. “They loved seeing the staff again, because it was the same staff from last year, and we’ve all got this huge rapport that we’ve built … I think we’ve got some positive moves going here.”

Some 20 staff members, all trained in substance use disorder and conflict de-escalation, provided food and drinks, entertainment and security in all parts of the building throughout the night, Scott said. Volunteers from Trinity Jubilee Center assisted in food preparation.

Kevin Boilard helps Colleena “Lee” Burns into her wheelchair Sunday morning in Lewiston. Boilard made three trips to bring people from the Lewiston winter warming center to downtown Lewiston Sunday morning. The warming center is only open from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. “If it was not for the warming center, I don’t know where we would be,” said Burns. “You can’t hide from the cold.” Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

The center runs from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. seven days a week until April 30, Scott said. It also provides van runs from Kennedy Park slightly ahead of the opening time, so folks don’t have to make the 2-mile, 40-minute hike. In the morning, the center offers van rides back to Kennedy Park.

Scott said it’s important to remind the public that the warming center is not a shelter, and has requirements different from those of a shelter.

“There’s a lot of misconception out there as for what this is. Some of us, even on our staff, use the word ‘shelter’ because that’s the word that most people associate when it comes to homeless folks,” Scott said. “This is a place for folks to come in out of the cold, to get some food, to have a safe environment where they feel comfortable, to relax through the evening and stay out of the elements.”