Freezing Temps Cause Cold Weather Shelters to Open

Thursday night’s near freezing temperatures meant cold weather shelters across the Coast were opening up to help local homeless people. Officials are predicting shelter doors will be open more this year than before, at a great cost to the organizations running them.

There were three cold weather shelters open Thursday night across the Coast: one in Gulfport, one in Pascagoula, and one in D’Iberville. Those shelters are also open Friday night. The Gulfport shelter can house as many as 150 people. Most of them are homeless. It takes 20 volunteers to operate the Gulfport shelter. Last year, the Salvation Army had cold weather shelters open for 42 days and this year, they’re predicting to be open for even more days.

Major Gary Sturdivant, Area Commander for the Salvation Army, says, “They come in, they have a cot and a blanket and a pillow. We have some clothing here. We also provide them with food. We also have personal hygiene items from time to time we are able to pass out, and snacks through the evening and that sort of things. We figured it out today and it’s somewhere between $1,000 and $1,300 a day that it would cost us if we didn’t have the volunteers and the food donations that we get from the community.”

To keep these shelters open, the Salvation Army needs volunteers and donations. If you want to help, you can do so by going to their website at www.salvationarmymscoast.org.