PITTSFIELD — Temperatures were expected to dip below zero on Monday night for the second time this month, marking the beginning of what's shaping up as a brutal winter. But ServiceNet's warming centers are open to help the city's most vulnerable populations.

ServiceNet — which provides services to people living with mental health, homelessness and other challenges — operates shelters and warming centers in Pittsfield.

Located at 21 Pearl St., its shelter, The Pearl, has 40 beds, and it is often full. But the center has additional space for cold weather emergencies.

ServiceNet’s new homeless shelter, The Pearl, opened on Pearl Street in Pittsfield on Jan. 22 with 40 permanent beds and upgraded facilities. The shelter is already at capacity, with over 30 people on the waiting list.

The shelter's dining room, which is open from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., doesn't have any beds. But offers a place for people struggling with homelessness to stay while the cold of the night passes. On top of being a warm space, people utilizing the shelter are also welcome to stay for breakfast.

"Typically we open very slowly," said Erin Forbush, the senior director of shelter and housing for ServiceNet. "This year, we had 23 people on Day 1, so I think that really is a telltale sign of days to come."

Forbush was speaking before Pittsfield's Homeless Advisory Board last Wednesday, giving updates on the warming shelter's opening. It opened on Nov. 17 and will continue to operate through Apr. 17.

"We've all been talking about how this issue of people being unhoused is increasing," Forbush said. "Last year, when we opened, and the weather wasn't significantly different, I had three people on Day 1, and for the first week even, I had single single digits for a census."

In the few weeks the shelter has been open, attendance in the shelter has ranged from 14 to 25 people, according to Forbush.

There is strong community support for the services ServiceNet is providing.

Homeless people can find refuge and a bed at The Pearl, a new shelter run by ServiceNet on the Pearl Street side of the First United Methodist Church in Pittsfield. It replaces the shelter that the organization had been operating in the former St. Joseph's Central High School.

The organization put out a call for blankets, Forbush said, and received so many they had to pause accepting donations while they stored the donated goods.

"All in all, its been a little hurried space for us as staff, but its been a successful couple weeks," she said. "We look forward to having that continue throughout the rest of this winter, and we'll be there for folks."