The city is in desperate need of help from volunteers to keep winter emergency shelters open amid extreme cold.
Since overflow winter emergency shelters opened Saturday, just one volunteer has worked a four-hour shift to help out, according to Misty Bosch-Hastings, director of the city’s homeless solutions division.
She said via email Tuesday morning that the Homeless Response Team has been running the winter emergency overflow shelters since Saturday evening, and “The Red Cross has informed us that they cannot assist us.”
“If you can spare just four hours of your time, it would make a world of difference,” Bosch-Hastings said.
The Lawrence Community Shelter, 3655 E. 25th St., is the primary place for people to seek shelter during extreme weather. Once it hits capacity — around 140 people — the city is opening overflow shelters at local churches to ensure that everyone has a warm place to sleep.
The wind chill forecast during the day Tuesday is between -1° and 9°, and the overnight low going into Wednesday is 1°, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka. Wednesday wind chills are forecast between -6° and 4°. Temperatures will warm up a bit later in the week, but they’re not expected to get above freezing, according to NWS.
Get help
People can call or text 785-813-9483 to confirm whether an overflow shelter is open and seek help. The winter shelter helpline can also be reached via email at wintershelter@lawrenceks.org.
First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St., is the first overflow shelter location. It can serve up to 25 people. Bosch-Hastings said that shelter is close to exceeding capacity every night.
“To better serve our unhoused neighbors, we urgently need to open an additional location, but we simply don’t have the manpower,” she said.
Bosch-Hastings said that starting Tuesday evening, Jan. 7, FUMC will open at 6 p.m. and close at 8 a.m.
Additional overflow shelters that could open if needed — and if volunteers are available — include:
• University Community of Christ, 1900 University Drive;
• Jesus Community Church of the Nazarene, 3000 Four Wheel Drive Suite E; and
• Lawrence First Church, 1470 North 1000 Road.
UCC opened as a day shelter Sunday and Monday as city buildings were closed. City recreational facilities and the Lawrence Public Library are now open during the day for folks to get warm, so UCC will not need to open for the daytime. (Update: The Lawrence Public Library has announced that it will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7 as a precaution. More at this link.)
Anyone interested in volunteering to fill a four-hour shift between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. can sign up via the United Way of Kaw Valley’s website at this link. Volunteers must be 18 or older.
“We are in desperate need of volunteers, especially those with experience working with individuals facing mental health challenges,” Bosch-Hastings said.
Volunteers will greet guests, provide comfort and support, help distribute blankets and food, check people in and out, and stay alert to assist with any emergencies or needs that arise, according to UWKV.
The city is not operating overnight shelters at the Community Building or at the Amtrak station this year as it has in years past.
Read more about how to seek shelter at this link. See more severe weather resources and information linked below.
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Severe weather resources
Get warm in Lawrence:
• See this page for locations to get warm during the day and overnight, where to get help for pets and more.
National Weather Service local office (Topeka):
• Find the latest weather forecast info and severe weather advisories for the Lawrence area at this link.
• In the event of rapidly changing severe weather, such as tornadoes, the NWS posts frequent updates on Twitter, @NWSTopeka. You do not need a Twitter account to see tweets from NWS.
• NWS is also on Facebook, facebook.com/NWSTopeka.
• Call 785-234-2592 to hear the forecast.
City of Lawrence snow info:
• The city has snow information and a map at lawrenceks.org/snow that shows information about road conditions and where snowplows have been. The city typically begins snow and ice control for residential roadways when 2 or more inches of snowfall or icing occurs.
Douglas County Emergency Management:
• Follow @DgCoEM on Twitter or Douglas County, KS- Emergency Management on Facebook, facebook.com/dgcoem.
• Sign up to receive emergency alerts at dgcoks.org/emalerts.
• Find lots of tips on severe weather and other emergency preparedness on DgCoEM’s website at douglascountyks.org/emergency-management.
• Report storm damage (for non-emergencies only, and after storm danger has passed) by calling the nonemergency dispatch line at 785-843-0250 or 785-832-7509.
Evergy outages:
• Check the status of power outages on the Evergy outage map, outagemap.evergy.com.
• Report a power outage at evergy.com/report-outage, or call 800-544-4857.
• For down powerlines, call Evergy’s emergency line, 800-383-1183, if above-ground lines are arcing or making contact with trees or vegetation. Call 911 immediately if overhead power lines are on the ground or a fire starts.
Air quality:
• Check the current air quality index in Lawrence and elsewhere through AirNow, airnow.gov.
This post is by the Lawrence Times news team.
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August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
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