Listen to the clip and hear what the City Mission has done in St. John's Church
Just inside the door in Johanneskyrkan in central Gothenburg, all participants are counted.
Homeless and socially disadvantaged people rise into the heat to have a meal or just a moment of peace and quiet in the heat.
Due to the pandemic and the temperature in recent days, it is for many an extra vulnerable life right now.
Hands and feet are massaged to get the heat in. Johanna Azar, who is unit manager in Johanneskyrkan, walks around and greets several people.
She reconciles and hears about night-walking homeless people who have not been able to sit down for more than a short time due to the cold.
- With the cold that has been now, it can be life threatening.
Homeless people are freezing to death, she says.
Homeless people have cold injuries
This was what made the City Mission in Gothenburg earlier this week to change quickly.
For the first time ever, St. John's Church is now open at night.
- Our business is otherwise open during the day, but when people with cold injuries came here, we felt we had to do something, says Johanna Azar.
Over the next few nights, volunteers within the City Mission have offered to help make the church a safe and secure place even during the night.