Agencies open emergency warming shelters Sunday night
Salvation Army opens doors for those who need warm place to sleep
FT. MYERS, Fla. - Dangerously cold temperatures are expected Sunday night and local agencies are making sure, no one has to weather the cold.
Four In Your Corner's Colleen Hogan talked to officials to find out the emergency plan.
Lee County homeless authorites say there's more than 3,500 homeless people in the county. Most will spend Sunday night on the street.
The Salvation Army is working to make sure those who want it, have access to shelter.
For the past month, Elice Hoffmann, 20, and her seven-month old daughter have been staying at the Salvation Army's women shelter.
"The past 2 years, I've been moving from place to place," hoffman said. "Never finding a stable place to live."
The Salvation Army has given Hoffman and her baby shelter, meals, and even helped her find a job.
"It's warm (here)," she said. "It's good to stay away from the cold. It's been pretty cold lately."
"Right now I'm staying in the woods," fellow Salvation Army client John Brahm, 55, said. "It's quite cold."
Although the emergency men's shelter is open Sunday night, Brahm, who suffers from medical conditions, prefers to sleep in the woods with a fellow homeless friend.
"It's dry and cold and kinda scary at night," he said.
Brahm sleeps outside with just a sleeping bag and blanket.
"Just trying to survive," he said.
"It's a matter of life and death," Salvation Army spokesperson Marrilu Bennett said.
Bennett says the emergency shelters were open to the homeless Saturday night and will be again Sunday night.
They open when the temperatures fall below about forty degrees.
"We've had an extremely warm winter," Bennett said. "So 39 degrees is gonna seem pretty cool to just about anybody, whether you live on the streets or not."
The Salvation Army needs your help. They're especially in need of blankets, gloves, hats, and jackets. You can drop them off at the shelters, or at your local Salvation Army store.
Colleen Hogan, reporter
chogan@jrn.com
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