As the winter weather brings colder temperatures in the next two months, the Golden Triangle Regional Homeless Coalition (GTRHC) will be hosting an overnight warming station for anyone in need of a place to escape the cold.
The building is located at 1501 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, and will be open on nights when the temperature drops below 37 degrees from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., said organization president Susan Garton.
“Anyone can walk in off the street,” she said. “Say they don’t have electricity, or they’re cold — whatever the situation may be.”
Volunteers will serve dinner and breakfast. Garton said there will also be fresh fruit and other snacks like granola bars available on hand for visitors to take when they leave for the day.
The warming shelter, which opened in late November for the first time, has received several donations of linens, pillows and blankets. Guests have the option to take their blankets and other linens with them at the end of their stay.
“We have so many blankets coming out of our ears,” Garton said. “Right now, we really need to focus on volunteers.”
There are three different five hour shifts on nights when the shelter is open. Each requires at least two to three volunteers. Volunteers help assist guests, serve meals and other minor tasks, according to the organization’s Facebook page. Garton encourages community members to volunteer for a shift if possible.
“People think because it’s overnight, it’s scary,” she said. “But everyone’s asleep, nobody’s moving. We have law enforcement come and check in about once every hour. And then the first station down the street (comes) to check in once every other hour, so we’re safe.”
On nights the warming station is not open, the GTRCH helps unhoused individuals find shelter either in a hotel or at a shelter in Tupelo.
Individuals without children registered in school are assisted with filling out a housing application, and then the organization provides transportation to Tupelo after making sure a bed is available.
“If they do not have beds in Tupelo, we automatically do hotels,” Garton said. “It’s not their fault that the shelter is full.”
Anyone interested in volunteering for overnight shifts at the warming station should contact the GTRCH at (662) 549-2643 or visit the Facebook page for more information.
The organization is also participating in a shoe drive through Jan. 15, accepting donations of any shoes regardless of age or gender. Donated shoes will be cleaned and fixed as necessary then distributed to homeless shelters across the country. The GTRHC will be reimbursed with $1 for every shoe that is donated.
Garton said she feels sure about the continued support of the local community.
“We’re so, so fortunate,” she said. “The city of Columbus really does care. People say ‘oh there’s homeless everywhere,’ but they don’t know those stories behind why those people are homeless.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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