Post updated at 5:43 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23:
With the worst of the extreme weather behind us — at least for now — Lawrence’s overflow winter emergency shelters will close for the time being.
Misty Bosch-Hastings, homeless programs coordinator for the City of Lawrence, said the Amtrak station/Santa Fe Depot in East Lawrence will close Wednesday morning.
The city announced that the station would open around the clock starting Jan. 11, days after the city saw several inches of snow and when an extended period of dangerously cold wind chills was in the forecast.
Additional options were needed as the Lawrence Community Shelter saw a big uptick in the numbers of guests seeking overnight shelter. Members of the community had also pushed for an overnight option closer to downtown that could be more accessible for people experiencing homelessness.
Bosch-Hastings expressed deep gratitude for community members who have helped by volunteering or dropping off donations over the past couple of weeks.
“The way that the community has rallied around to make this happen — this is not the typical story on homelessness,” Bosch-Hastings said. “… There were so many people that came to help.”
The worst of the deadly weather is out of the forecast, at least for now.
The Lawrence area will likely see a mix of rain, fog, mist and clouds over the next few days, but temperatures are anticipated to stay above freezing, mostly in the low 40s, according to the forecast from the National Weather Service in Topeka as of Tuesday afternoon.
Temperatures could drop a bit below freezing again Saturday night into Sunday and Sunday night into Monday, but Monday’s forecast showed sunny skies with a high of 53° as of Tuesday afternoon.
University Community of Christ had also opened an overflow shelter on Jan. 16 amid extreme wind chills the area saw after the heavy snow storm. That shelter will also close Wednesday morning.
Bosch-Hastings said about 36 people had been staying at Amtrak over the past few days, and about 20 people were staying at the church.
More:
• ‘This is actually the heart of Lawrence’: Advocates grateful for community’s support during cold snap, Jan. 24, 2024
First United Methodist Church also provided space for up to 25 folks to stay overnights. That shelter closed over the weekend, Bosch-Hastings said.
As people exit the Amtrak station, Bosch-Hastings said staff members of the city and Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center as well as community advocates have been helping to make sure people have supplies they need, and helping to transport people back to campsites where they were staying before the cold snap.
“Just trying to make sure that they’re not just going blindly back out to tents that may have been damaged,” she said. “We still wanted to keep people safe as we close.”
Bosch-Hastings said it’s possible that the Amtrak station could open as an overflow shelter again if needed.
“This went really well,” she said.
With the overflow emergency shelters closing, the Lawrence Community Shelter, 3655 E. 25th St., will be the primary option for folks who need a place to stay warm overnight. LCS can also accommodate pets with their owners.
Lacee Roe, director of community engagement for LCS, said “we’ll have to wait and see” whether there will be enough space for folks overnight.
“LCS will accommodate as many people as possible, like we have always done,” Roe said via email Tuesday. “We do not anticipate the need to be as high as it was when we had the winter storm. However, if there is another weather emergency or a need for overflow then we will coordinate available options and resources as we did before in collaboration with the city.”
Roe said it’s important for the community to understand that a homeless shelter is typically a person’s last resort.
“Many folks avoid large congregate shelters due to discomfort in crowded spaces, lack of privacy, or past traumatic shelter experiences. Expanding options in our community is essential to ensuring more people can access the services they need,” she said.
The shelter is in the process of reevaluating needs for the future, making some building repairs and improvements, and finalizing plans for the Pallet village, with more updates to come soon, Roe said.
See the Lawrence Community Shelter’s website at lawrenceshelter.org/seeking-shelter to learn more about staying there, or call 785-832-8864 for more information.
People who are interested in volunteering there can sign up at lawrenceshelter.org/volunteer.
The city’s recreational facilities will be open for warming during their regular daytime hours. See details at this link.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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