Frigid temperatures are affecting schools and agencies across northeastern and central Pennsylvania. Newswatch 16’s Adi Iyer takes a look at how.

LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — With an Arctic air blast bringing us below-freezing temperatures for most of the week, staying warm isn’t just a luxury. It’s a necessity.

Jason Griffiths, a social worker, says, “We know it’s cold, and we know that we’re going to be busy, and we just have to make sure, like I said, the hats, the gloves, the handwarmers.”

Since it feels like temperatures dropped below freezing, folks without a warm place to stay have been coming to the community intervention center in scranton. 

 “We are full, like we are trying to pull chairs in our back room, we’re seeing 120 people coming in,” says Griffiths. 

Because of how many people there are and how few supplies some shelters can spare, folks are also donating food due to the extreme cold.

Austin Stankowski of Clarks Summit says, “Everyone needs their own support system in some way; this just lets people in the community come and have somewhere to lean on.”

Some schools are also being affected by the cold. The superintendent of the Midd-West school district, in part, said in an email to Newswatch 16 that, “The district is delaying school because diesel buses can have problems starting in extreme cold. They take a while to warm up for students to ride on them. Delaying until the sun comes out allows for a warmer wait at the bus stop, for drivers to see potential icy spots on the road better, and to allow for kids to be safest and most comfortable on their way to school.”

Making sure folks feel safe and comfortable is also why the Scranton Catholic Social Services is helping out with Scranton’s Code Blue shelter at Weston Field.

Raymond Moore, a Catholic Social Services staff member, says, “Worst case scenario, you hear about a lot of people passing away due to homelessness in the cold, anything we can do to help is a blessing, it’s a blessing. I would hate to see somebody outside. I wouldn’t want to be outside in this weather, so I could just imagine somebody having to stay outside, sleep outside.”

Weston Field’s shelter opens during a Code Blue from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., and the Community Intervention Center opens from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. dailyÂ