The Gloucester House is, like a number of local restaurants during this harsh COVID winter, on hiatus. But its private function hall is far from empty, food policy writer Corby Kummer told Boston Public Radio on Friday. The restaurant has opened its doors to the Grace Shelter, to provide a warm haven for local people who are experiencing homelessness.

“They’re showing the way for local businesses to use their facilities for good, when organizations have lost their facilities,” said Kummer.

Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.