Snow, ice and cold temperatures in the forecast has prompted quick planning for homeless shelters and warming centers.
The Martinsville Henry County Warming Center doesn’t open unless the evening temperatures are 35 degrees or below, and it has been open for the last four weeks. They close at 8 a.m. the next morning.
Due to the pandemic, many public places where someone would go to keep warm during the day like a library are closed or only curbside.
As a result, the warming center is connecting with other daytime shelters. They started a new partnership with New Heights Community support, that way when guests leave the warming center they still have somewhere safe to go to avoid the cold.
Something else the center has to consider is its volunteers.
“We also have to make sure that we can have volunteers for that extra time we choose to keep the center open and we also have to think about the safety of our volunteers and safety of our transportation volunteers,” said Hailey Roberson, the transportation coordinator.
Roberson said they are still in need of volunteers for the season. If interested you can click here to contact them on Facebook or call at 276-207-9660.
To Our House, a winter overnight shelter for homeless adults in the New River Valley, is only open from November to March.
During a typical season they use multiple churches as sites anywhere from Giles County to Christiansburg, but because of the pandemic a lot of those churches are closed to outside activities to protect congregations. That means To Our House may stay at one site longer.
Right now, the shelter is housing its guests at the Knights of Columbus building in downtown Christiansburg. They even have portable showers outside the building and the churches that aren’t able to be a site donate meals for guests.
It’s different from what To Our House usually does but when roads are a mess due to snow and ice it’s easier because the organization doesn’t have to worry about transporting guests safely. They can remain at whichever location they were before a winter storm and stay warm.
Morris Fleischer, chair on To Our House Policy Council said keeping those with nowhere else to go warm is their priority, but it’s just the start of their and other organizations’ reach.
“Programs like TOH, Roanoke Rescue Mission, the warming shelters that are in the area, I mean that’s the key bottom-line kind of thing is safety keeping people healthy so that they can take the next steps to more self sufficiency,” said Fleischer.
He also recommends if you want to help their guests stay warm you can donate new or gently coats and other outdoor winter accessories. You can contact them to exchange a drop-off toourhousenrv@gmail.com you can also call their hotline 540-320-1273.
You can also call the hotline if you need To Our House’s services.