Homeless seek shelter as temperatures dive
Local shelters step up efforts
TEXARKANA, Texas — Local nonprofits such as Mission Texarkana, Randy Sams Outreach Center and The Salvation Army have been working through frigid weather conditions to keep the homeless population here warm and sheltered.
Through community donations and a “Cold Weather Plan,” Randy Sams has been providing cold weather items, food and shelter to the homeless and less fortunate.
During the first few days of the weather front, The Salvation Army collaborated with Randy Sams by providing extra overflow shelter to some who came by, while others were placed in a nearby motel.
Executive Director Jennifer Lacefield said this collaboration was especially helpful due to a need to promptly identify and relocate a COVID-19 threat recently.
“On Monday, we were able to start accepting more homeless into our shelter again while maintaining CDC safety protocols,” Lacefield said.
Randy Sams and Salvation Army have been attempting to abide by these COVID guidelines, while also providing those who seek help from them for what they need to survive.
Mission Texarkana has been providing warming stations at its Mission TXK building, with three patio heaters, a kerosene heater and a propane fire pit on an enclosed back porch.
Executive Director Cody Howard said some have even been sleeping on the porch, where they’ve been able to keep temperatures at above-freezing levels.
He expects the stations to be kept up and maintained until Sunday morning or when temperatures are consistently above freezing.
“What we see when it gets super cold is people whose core temperature drops in a tent, and then they deal with a lot of different sickness because their immune system is not working,” Howard said. “And they have consistent health problems for a few months after, because of it. We’re trying to prevent that.”
Howard and some of his family members have been working day and night to maintain these stations, while also passing out coats, tarps, hand-warmers, socks, etc. to those whose clothing items get soaked once the snow on them melts.
“There’s quite a bit of work that goes into it,” he said. “The propane heaters on the porch aren’t meant to be burned around the clock. So, it requires changing the tanks very often. It takes rotating them in and out consistently. And just supervision is a big part of it. We don’t have any bad actors, and we don’t expect any. But we always want to do what we can to protect our people. So, we’re here around the clock.”
Howard said they’ve assigned responsibilities to many of the homeless people who are sleeping on their back porch — refilling tanks, serving meals, cleaning, preparing food — to make it a more fulfilling experience for everyone involved.
“My community is always great,” he said. “One of our goals here is at Mission Texarkana is for the people in the community to do what they can to help and work within their own community.”
Howard and Lacefield both thanked the community for all the help they’ve received when it comes to assisting those without the resources needed to stay warm and safe on their own.
“The response has been incredible, not only from the community donating items so we can run the warming station, but from our people who have been running the stations themselves,” Howard said.
(Mission Texarkana is located at 620 W. Fourth St. Randy Sams is at 402 Oak St.)