Cool Spots

The city’s emergency cooling centers—air-conditioned places where free water is handed out—are set up “in the areas where we know there’s the greatest need in terms of vulnerable populations,” said Brian Schleter, spokesperson for the Baltimore Health Department on July 22, when temperatures in the city soared to 107 degrees. Asked if they’re still spaced a bit far apart, he says, “Exactly.”

Transportation for vulnerable seniors is available through a program at the Office of Aging and Care services but “you have to pre-register for it,” Schleter says. There are, however, some 300 volunteers in so-called Community Emergency Response Teams who knock on senior citizens’ doors all over the city, making sure they’re OK. There is no dedicated transportation for younger people, but they are welcome in the cooling centers (often located in senior centers), same as everyone.

“The [message] that we’re putting out today: when the heat gets this bad, even people who are healthy should avoid being outside during the hottest part of the day,” Schleter said. If you don’t have AC and it’s too far to a cooling center, “contact a neighbor who has air conditioning. We’re really relying on communities helping each other out.”

1. Leith Walk Recreation Center
2. Community Action Center
3. Zeta Senior Center
4. Northwest Community Action Center
5. Northern Community Action Center
6. Mount Royal Recreation Center
7. Oliver Recreation Center
8. Oliver Senior Center
9. Sandtown-Winchester Senior Center
10. Central Rosemont Recreation Center
11. Robert C. Marshall Recreation Center
12. Waxter Center for Senior Citizens
13. Chick Webb Recreation Center
14. Mary E. Rodman Recreation Center
15. James McHenry Recreation Center
16. Hatton Senior Center
17. Southeastern Community Action Center
18. John Booth Senior Center
19. Ella Bailey Recreation Center
20. Locust Point Recreation Center
21. Southern Community Action Center
22. Brooklyn O’Malley Recreation Center

View Baltimore Public Cooling Centers in a larger map