The recent cold weather and snow may lead many people to look for shelter and warmth. This is something that homeless and warming shelters have been preparing for for months.
Brian Johansson, the CEO and President of the Erie City Mission explained, “People can freeze to death out there and it doesn’t take much to get hypothermia, we see a lot of frostbite. We deal with a lot of medical emergencies here at the mission. This is what we are dealing with and what’s happening in our city.”
The Erie City Mission is one of many homeless shelters that provide a place for people to get warm, enjoy a meal, and sleep.
According to Johansson, “We have been partnering with the home team, but it gets cold out there. And to allow folks to come into our chapel, it gets cold out there and if somebody wants to look for a bed at 9:00 at night and it’s fifteen degrees out, they have no where to go, right this is not an option for them, so we are happy to meet that need.”
The Erie City Mission has staff and volunteers who will search for people in the cold temperatures. As Johansson explained, “Our outreach teams goes to the encampments in Erie. We go to fourteen encampments, we had over 400 visits last year to people that are living in these encampments, offering them a bed, offering them treatment, offering them whatever they need to get out of that crisis situation.”
They aren’t alone, Community Shelter Services recently received a grant, thanks to the Flagship Funds through the City of Erie to help with upgrades on their time homes.
Fontaine Glenn, the Development Director with Community Shelter Services said, “All of our tiny homes have that great option of heat, especially when it gets cold out because we are in Erie, we know how that goes, it’s something that we always looking to keep our clients and our staff safe.”
They recently faced a shortage of winter gear for their clients, but when they put a call out, people showed up to help their neighbors in need.
As Glenn explained, “We had a shortage of kids coats so the community was great. We put out a call for action and the community was amazing and they donated a bunch of coats, but we are always accepting coats, socks, and boots.”
Community Shelter Services are always looking for donations, especially when it comes to winter gear in the winter months, as is the Erie City Mission.