Tuesday’s cold and precipitation made the streets of Lawrence a bad place to be. Two new shelters made sure the city’s homeless had someplace to go.

The Lawrence Open Shelter, 944 Ky., which serves intoxicated guests not allowed at the city-supported Salvation Army shelter, opened Monday night in the rear of the Community Drop-In Center, 214 W. 10th St. Warm Hands shelter, an afternoon shelter at Victory Bible Church, 1942 Mass., opened Sunday afternoon.

Six people stayed at the open shelter Monday night, director Kathy Wright said, even though no notice was given of the opening.

“I don’t know how they knew,” she said.

Tuesday night the shelter opened as a wintry storm raged. Three people were huddled outside the entrance in a covered walkway, said Tom Wright, president of the board of directors for the shelter.

“Another one was coming across the parking lot in the snow,” he said.

That person was Mark, a 46-year-old who declined to give his last name. Mark said he welcomed the shelter’s opening. He added that he didn’t know where he would have gone without it.

“I have a tent, but it leaks, and it’s not much good in this weather,” Mark said. “I probably wouldn’t have drunk that half-pint of vodka today if I knew I was going to have to get into the Salvation Army.”

With only 20 spots available per night, though, Kathy Wright said she expected the shelter would quickly reach capacity.

People seeking shelter from the cold have a new place to spend their afternoons, at the Warm Hands Shelter in the Victory Bible Church, 1942 Mass. A woman at the shelter Tuesday, who did not want to be identified, took advantage of two space heaters to keep warm as she watched television.

“We’ll try to sort out with the Salvation Army … who needs to be here, and who has other options,” she said.

Two people took refuge Tuesday afternoon at the Warm Hands shelter, neither of whom would be interviewed. Co-director Mary Shelley said as many as a dozen people visited on previous days.

The afternoon shelter provides a warm place during hours when other agencies that serve the city’s homeless have closed their doors. The Community Drop-In Center, for example, closes at noon Monday through Friday.

“There is a dull time in the middle of the day when people have no place to go,” Shelley said.

Coffee and snacks were available to the guests, who passed the time Tuesday watching “Jerry Springer” on television. Shelley said she hoped to bring activities and social workers to the shelter to make the time more productive.

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“We want to make this facility more than just a place to get off the street and keep warm,” she said.

Back at the open shelter, Kathy Wright said her organization would take a “pre-treatment” approach to the intoxicated homeless.

The Warm Hands Shelter offers a place to keep warm until the city's two overnight shelters open. The Salvation Army Shelter, 946, N.H., opens at 9 p.m., and the new Lawrence Open Shelter opens at 8 p.m.

“We’re probably serving a population that requires a nontraditional approach,” she said. “Our primary thing is making sure people have shelter.”

Warm Hands Shelter is open 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The Lawrence Open Shelter is open 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily. The Drop-In Center is open from 8 a.m. to noon. The Salvation Army shelter opens 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily.

— Staff writer Mike Belt contributed to this story.