Director Julia Stone, left, and Betty St. Hilaire, chairperson of the Augusta Overnight Warming Center Advisory Board, speak Wednesday during a tour of the Augusta Overnight Emergency Warming Center in the South Parish Congregational Church.

A sign listing items needed by the Augusta Overnight Emergency Warming Center is seen Wednesday during a tour of the shelter in the South Parish Congregational Church.

The Rev. Nate Richards, pastor of the South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta, addresses a crowd Wednesday during an open house for the new Augusta Overnight Emergency Warming Center, located in the church.

Beth Sirabella, a South Parish Nursery School teacher, reads a poem she wrote during an open house Wednesday at the new Augusta Overnight Emergency Warming Center in the South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta.

Sleeping cots are seen Wednesday during a tour of the new Augusta Overnight Emergency Warming Center in the South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta.