With temperatures expected to drop into the 20s over the weekend, the decision has been made to open the emergency warming shelter at First United Methodist Church's Family Life Center Friday at 4 p.m.
First started at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, the emergency warming shelter quickly outgrew that space, eventually moving to its current space off Pratt Street.
"First United Methodist Church allows us to use their family life center," Sally Carder, one of the organizers of the shelter, said. "Actually, the warming shelter started a long time ago, and we started them at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. It very quickly outgrew us, so we needed to move to a larger location. And First United Methodist is a Red Cross-certified emergency shelter, so they have allowed us to use their facilities for a number of years."
Video not playing? Click here https://www.youtube.com/embed/v-DUjee_Zk4
Carder said the shelter, much like those in Little Rock, does not open until the temperatures are forecast to drop to "25 degrees or lower," and nearly 100 people used the shelter at its peak last winter.
"Certainly we do take into account that if it's snowing, if it's going to be icy or raining and it's not down to that 25 degrees, we will also open," she said. "A lot of people don't understand this, but it is a major undertaking to open a shelter for over 90 people, plus their dogs and cats, and we did have one rabbit last year.
"If the temperatures are just 25 -- and to me that's awful -- but if they're just 25, we may start with 50 or 60. When the temperatures drop, everybody comes in. If it's gonna snow, we will have a gym full of people."
While most people tend to think the warming shelter is for the unhoused population, organizers said anyone in need of a warm place to stay is welcome.
"They all need the same thing, and they're all treated the same," Kathy Randel, another of the organizers, said. "Everybody comes. They can eat. They have a warm place to sleep. They get blankets. We have an opportunity to talk to them, and some of those that come in have a situation that, once we're made aware of, we can actually help them with that."
Randel said the shelter allows organizers to get help for those who need it.
"They may have missed, didn't pay a utility bill," she said. "They don't know how they can get help with that. Their food stamps ran out. They don't have any food. So we're able to get some casework going on, and that's the beauty of having a real mixed group. And they all get along, and it doesn't matter: everybody's in there for the same need."
There are many items needed for the shelter -- from clothing to blankets to washcloths and towels to cooking and cleaning materials.
"Things like cleaning supplies and clothes (are needed)," Carder said. "We ask for warm-ups, warm-up bottoms, pajama bottoms, men's and women's underwear -- all sizes -- men's T-shirts, because when they come in, we let them take a shower.
"We give them the warm-ups and a T-shirt, and that's what they sleep in. It's good and warm and dry, clean. It's important. But we need all kinds of (things) -- paper towels, toilet paper, Styrofoam coffee cups. We'll keep a coffee pot going 24/7 in these temperatures," she said.
A list shared by organizers also listed "heavy duty" paper plates and bowls, disposable drink cups, trash bags, gallon and quart storage bags, aluminum foil, dishwashing liquid, bleach, Clorox and Lysol sprays, and liquid hand soap. Items can be delivered to the church starting at noon Thursday or at any time Friday through Tuesday.
Walmart gift cards are also "crucial" for the shelter.
"We have so many things that arise like we had a lady that came in, and her hair was just really, really matted," Trish Nooner, another organizer, said. "And so we were able to send somebody with a Walmart card to go purchase a pair of scissors even. So just simple things. If there's a volunteer there, we can't necessarily give the ministry card, but if we have a Walmart card, we can give them a list and say, 'Hey, this is what we need. This is what we're out of.'"
Volunteers are also desperately needed, organizers said.
"First off for volunteering, it's only three-hour shifts," Nooner said. "Three hours is not very much time to give up for our community. This is our community, and we have to work together. But volunteering really just consists of keeping things stocked -- maybe the tables with snacks or keeping coffee going. We have people at the sign-in sheet when people come in; we want to know who we have."
To volunteer to help with the shelter, people can sign up online at:
http://tinyurl.com/bdcj9um5
Organizers said there will be security at the shelter each night from approximately 5 p.m. to 6 a.m., and Hot Springs police officers do walk-throughs "about once every hour."
"We've expanded our hours," Carder said. "Of course, if we have additional funds, we can expand them more, but we think it's important that we have security there from 5 o'clock until 6 o'clock the next morning. ... We start serving dinner at 5:30, and we'll have security on the premises all the way through and up until 6 o'clock the next morning."
Carder said financial donations are needed to help pay for security.
"The security that we have costs us between $500 and $600, and if you're looking at five days, you're looking at a big expense right there," she said. "That would be wonderful. We like to provide an off-duty policeman. We have a state policeman at night, and our city police are wonderful. They do walk-throughs every hour that they can, but with new people on the street that we don't know and with our volunteers and with that number of people, a security officer there is important."
Donations can be made by visiting:
https://www.stlukeshs.org/give
Select "Warming/Cooling Shelter" from the drop-down menu.
Sally Carder, right, discusses the emergency warming shelter that will be opening Friday at First United Methodist Church's Family Life Center. Carder, Trish Nooner, left, and Kathy Randel are organizers of the shelter program. (The Sentinel-Record/James Leigh)
Food is needed for the emergency warming shelter, which is set to open Friday at 4 p.m. at First United Methodist Church's Family Life Center. (The Sentinel-Record/James Leigh)