Matthew’s Hope opens emergency shelter due to cold in Central Florida
Updated: 11:30 PM EST Dec 30, 2025
With wind chills as low as 27 degrees possible in parts of Central Florida this week, emergency shelters started opening their doors Tuesday. At Matthew’s Hope Orange County in Winter Garden, it was hard for them to predict how many people would show up Tuesday night. “It’s really hard to say. We’ve seen anywhere from 10 people to 85 people,” Shannon Diaz, Director of the Orange County location of the organization, said. They’re designed to have a max of about 65 people. But when they need to, they make space. “We go in the pantry, we go in the office, we go in the healthcare clinic, we put anybody and everybody wherever they can be,” Diaz said. Matthew’s Hope made the announcement Monday that they’d be opening their emergency shelter. They put the call out for donations of things like blankets and clothes, and the community delivered. “The community really steps up when it comes to things like this,” Diaz said. Within an hour and a half of the shelter opening Tuesday, about 20 people had already checked in. Including Tiyanna Nunn, who found out earlier in the day that it would be open. “Through friends on the street and stuff like that,” They said. “You know we keep in contact with each other. We let each other know what’s going on. Resources and stuff like that. Especially on nights like tonight.”Spending the night at the shelter means two hot meals and a warm place to sleep on a night when temperatures are expected to get below 40. “It’s very challenging because I mean if you don’t of you don’t have blankets or anything thick to keep you warm, you’ll freeze out there,” Nunn said. The chill is set to stick around, and the shelter will be open again Tuesday night. They welcome men, women, and children and have a bus to help get people there from their service area. The organization received a number of donations ahead of the shelter opening Tuesday. Diaz said they could still use donations of men’s boxers. They shared a full list of items they were looking for here.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —
With wind chills as low as 27 degrees possible in parts of Central Florida this week, emergency shelters started opening their doors Tuesday.
At Matthew’s Hope Orange County in Winter Garden, it was hard for them to predict how many people would show up Tuesday night.
“It’s really hard to say. We’ve seen anywhere from 10 people to 85 people,” Shannon Diaz, Director of the Orange County location of the organization, said.
They’re designed to have a max of about 65 people. But when they need to, they make space.
“We go in the pantry, we go in the office, we go in the healthcare clinic, we put anybody and everybody wherever they can be,” Diaz said.
Matthew’s Hope made the announcement Monday that they’d be opening their emergency shelter. They put the call out for donations of things like blankets and clothes, and the community delivered.
“The community really steps up when it comes to things like this,” Diaz said.
Within an hour and a half of the shelter opening Tuesday, about 20 people had already checked in. Including Tiyanna Nunn, who found out earlier in the day that it would be open.
“Through friends on the street and stuff like that,” They said. “You know we keep in contact with each other. We let each other know what’s going on. Resources and stuff like that. Especially on nights like tonight.”
Spending the night at the shelter means two hot meals and a warm place to sleep on a night when temperatures are expected to get below 40.
“It’s very challenging because I mean if you don’t of you don’t have blankets or anything thick to keep you warm, you’ll freeze out there,” Nunn said.
The chill is set to stick around, and the shelter will be open again Tuesday night. They welcome men, women, and children and have a bus to help get people there from their service area.
The organization received a number of donations ahead of the shelter opening Tuesday. Diaz said they could still use donations of men’s boxers. They shared a full list of items they were looking for here.