The Licking Warming Center Task Force pulled together enough volunteers this week to open two nights in a row and keep the people of Licking County out of the cold.
On Wednesday, Dec. 4 and Thursday, Dec. 5 the Licking County Emergency Warming Center at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Newark, opened on very short notice, with 24 total volunteers working to help dozens of people avoid a freezing night outside.
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“We had 26 the first night. We had seven who did not return but an additional eight [came], so we had 27 last night,” said Jeff Gill, a member of the Licking County Warming Center Task Force.
This included an estimated four people over the age of 70, two people in wheelchairs, and one dog. Gill said that there is a noticeable increase in senior citizens coming to the emergency shelter.
“It’s not what a lot of people expect, which is a whole bunch of middle aged guys living in tents by the river who come to our place when it gets cold,” Gill said. “It is a mix of people who are waiting for the next retirement check, people caught between apartments, families, couples. It runs the gamut.”
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To increase accessibility, the warming center has no barriers to entry, meaning those with pets and those using substances are welcome — atypical for shelters in Licking County.
“We’re saving people from freezing to death,” Nancy Welu, the volunteer coordinator of the Licking County Emergency Warming Center Task Force, said in March this year.
“You’re going to be warm,” she said. “You’re going to be treated with respect. You’re going to have a full belly.”
The decision to open is not an arbitrary one. Between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Gill and Licking County Emergency Management Agency Director Sean Grady watched the weather and ultimately made the call to open the shelter.
Normally, the shelter opens once the weather drops to 10 degrees Fahrenheit, but the windchill that night was set to bounce between 5 and -5 degrees. By 5:30 p.m., the center was up and running with a skeleton crew of 18, and as the night went on six more volunteers arrived to fill out the operation.
Read more: Volunteers needed to open emergency warming shelter tonight as wind-chill temperatures plunge
Bringing this shelter together is no small feat. Gill said that it takes at least 18 volunteers to open the doors.
And all of those boots on the ground are necessary. There is food prep, intake, late night and overnight supervision, checkout and cleanup shifts, all of which need at least three volunteers.
There was no shortage of volunteers this week.
Luellen Deeds, volunteer coordinator with United Way, said this was the first time United Way has coordinated volunteers for the warming shelter.
Deeds said they were overwhelmed by the response, with over 40 people responding within hours of putting out the call for volunteers. They continued to get inquiries about volunteering and hope that folks will step up again when it gets cold in January and February.
“I think people saw a need,” she said. “They felt the cold – I know I did. I can’t imagine being out in that.”
“It’s just amazing,” Deeds added. “It just warms the heart.”
The Licking County Warming Center Task Force is comprised of representatives from Licking County Health Department, the Licking County Emergency Management Agency, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Pathways of Central Ohio/211, Newark Homeless Outreach, Licking County Humane Society, Licking County Coalition for Housing, Licking Memorial Health Systems, United Way of Licking County, the Faith-Based Community, and the Licking County Foundation.
Noah Fishman writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.