Whether for fun or out of necessity, Milwaukee finds ways to beat the heat ☀️

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- For many people across Milwaukee, Wednesday's, July 23, arrival of hot and oppressively humid weather would not slow them down.

Youngsters played soccer until dusk at Kadish Park, and more than a dozen small children ran through the splash pad at Green Bay Playfield on the city's north side.

Others, however, simply needed to get out of the sun for a while. For many of the community's less fortunate, the St. Ben's Community Meal served as a shelter, an addition to its usual dinner.

Site Manager Kenneth Howard said between 40 and 50 people used the meal hall for shelter at various parts of the day Wednesday. That number is a little less than what St. Ben's normally sees on an extremely cold day at its day shelter.

"It's hot. People need to get out of the heat," Howard said. "And so we open up, basically allow folks to sit down, get hydrated, and once they're ready to go, they can go ahead and leave or they can just stay and carry over to the meal."

Howard said he expected more people to come by the meal hall Thursday as, typically, the shelter will have more visitors the longer a stretch of extreme weather continues.

One of the people passing through was A'shai'lyne Luckett, who said they're transgender person, and that has created additional challenges while trying to navigate homelessness.

"Not knowing where your next moment will land you 'cause it's not safe out here," Luckett said. "People are walking around with knives and guns and rocks, and at any point, you can be beat. And being who I am, a transgender person, I am a target. So, it's pretty nerve-wracking and sometimes very scary."

Howard said St. Ben's will be open Thursday for the same daytime hours, 11:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. with the usual nightly meal. He added children are welcome at the hall, so families can together either for the meal or for some time out of the sun.

"We just want to get the word out that St. Ben's is a place you can come," he said. "If it's really, really hot or really, really cold, please come. This is a destination place to land."