
With extreme cold looming, Lawrence’s Homeless Resource Center seeking help
Lawrence’s Homeless Resource Center is calling for some extra help from the community as snow is on the way and extreme cold is expected to stick around all week.
Lawrence’s Homeless Resource Center is calling for some extra help from the community as snow is on the way and extreme cold is expected to stick around all week.
Unofficial numbers released Thursday showed that more people experiencing homelessness in Douglas County were seeking shelter on the day of an annual count than last year, and fewer were unsheltered.
Cold temperatures and the possibility of snow are in the forecast in the coming days, and the city is seeking volunteers to open an extra shelter space to ensure folks have a warm place to sleep.
The blizzard that hit Lawrence and the lingering cold have wreaked some havoc for the Lawrence Community Shelter, including causing some pipes to freeze and burst and slowing construction of 24 new Pallet shelters.
The city is in desperate need of help from volunteers to keep winter emergency shelters open amid extreme cold.
Update: First United Methodist Church in downtown Lawrence opened its doors for overnight emergency shelter, and the University Community of Christ will open at 10 a.m. Sunday as a day shelter.
With the possibility of severe weather looming, the Lawrence Community Shelter, city and volunteers are preparing to ensure everyone who needs a warm place to sleep will have one.
The City of Lawrence is doling out $1.2 million from its sales tax coffers for affordable housing and housing-adjacent projects. New this year will be a community educator to help renters learn their rights.
Home and rental prices have skyrocketed in recent years because of a housing shortage. That’s leading to a rise in homelessness and could be hurting the economy.
Many of the people who previously lived behind the Amtrak station in East Lawrence did not anticipate that they’d have to leave the property where they recently moved within two months.
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