{"id":106855,"date":"2026-02-06T09:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T09:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/106855\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T09:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T09:35:10","slug":"warming-shelters-see-increased-use-after-lingering-cold-snap-the-lafayette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/106855\/","title":{"rendered":"Warming shelters see increased use after lingering cold snap \u2013 The Lafayette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Warming<\/a> <\/p>\n

Photo by Andreas Pelekis<\/a> for The Lafayette <\/p>\n

Warming shelters in Easton are open on various days of the week, and have seen up to 40 residents on a given night. <\/p>\n

As temperatures plunged into single digits following a powerhouse snowstorm<\/a> last week, three local warming locations have seen increased demand from unsheltered city residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can be that beacon for two nights, that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to do,\u201d said Rebekah Rutledge, the outreach coordinator at Christ United Methodist Church. \u201cIf funding was an option and we were able to be open more, we would. We\u2019ve actually even opened two hours earlier to get them in here, to get them out of the cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rutledge estimated around 40 to 50 residents seek shelter on a given night at the church, which is open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Around 15 volunteers assist at the South Side location each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started coming here because I want to teach her about giving,\u201d said David Ng, a volunteer at Christ United who goes with his daughter. \u201cI feel like we are blessed. We have an amazing life, so we have to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ng said that every day as a volunteer is different.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just basically talking about movie trivia from the \u201860s, just to talk to them and see where they\u2019re at,\u201d he said of a recent day at the shelter. \u201cJust those few moments of interaction that we are able to provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a reality check, and it\u2019s not easy,\u201d said Kendell Giiffit, who stayed at the Christ United shelter, and called the space \u201cvery welcoming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s other churches too, but they don\u2019t do it like this,\u201d he continued, standing in a room with two dozen mattresses set on the ground.<\/p>\n

\"\"Volunteers serve food at Christ United Methodist Church. (Photo by Andreas Pelekis<\/a>)<\/p>\n

At Christ United, the organization also provides basic first aid supplies, in addition to an estimated 25 pounds of meat during distributed dinners, according to Rutledge.<\/p>\n

Social services nonprofit Safe Harbor Easton helps oversee Christ United\u2019s shelter, in addition to hosting unsheltered residents at its own larger, professionally-staffed \u201cwarming station.\u201d The third station in Easton is the Greater Shiloh Church in the South Side, open Thursdays and Fridays from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Poch, the executive director of Safe Harbor Easton, said the organization is working to find \u201cthe root cause of their homelessness,\u201d overseeing a staff of 16 that provides mental health services, housing services and employment opportunities.<\/p>\n

Robert Beldo, the emergency shelter coordinator at Shiloh, equips a volunteer staff to provide food, clothing and showers. The shelter also features a barber who stops by twice a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had as low as 15-year-olds to as high as 80-year-olds who come to our shelter,\u201d Beldo said. We are equipped to house up to 40 people. Sometimes we go a little more; if we have to, we try not to turn away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beldo also said that the shelter has seen a \u201cspike\u201d in residents this year due to cold conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of Thursday morning, according to National Weather Service forecasts,<\/a> nightly temperatures are not expected to rise above 20 degrees Fahrenheit \u2014 well under the freezing threshold \u2014 for the next week. For shelter owners, piling donations is a necessary challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been such a rewarding thing for all of us to be a part of,\u201d said Rutledge, who estimated around $5,000 in donations for the shelter this winter. \u201cWe really come from that family, humanistic approach, that nobody is better than anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all here to just help,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Andreas Pelekis \u201926 contributed reporting.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Andreas Pelekis for The Lafayette Warming shelters in Easton are open on various days of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-106855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}