With arctic blast heading to North Texas, organizations working to get the homeless out of the cold
DALLAS - An arctic blast is set to bring dangerously cold temperatures to North Texas, and being outside for too long could be unsafe.
That's why organizations like Texas Baptist Men and Our Calling are working to help the homeless population find a safe, warm place.
With the artic blast hitting this weekend, Our Calling has opened an emergency shelter at Fair Park to help the unsheltered have a hot meal and warm place to stay.
Dallas opens temporary homeless shelter at Fair Park as arctic blast makes its way to North Texas
The city of Dallas has opened a temporary shelter at Fair Park for the city's unsheltered residents.
"Our Calling has been doing inclement weather shelter now for many years. What we do is we step up in the time of crisis and provide emergency shelter to our unsheltered neighbors," said Juliana Williams, with Our Calling.
Williams said homelessness has many faces.
"There are people experiencing homelessness that live in their cars. There are people experiencing homelessness that have a job. There are people that are experiencing homelessness that you will never see that live deep in the woods," she explained.
Williams said many of the homeless are elderly and disabled, and explained that Dallas has six primary shelters with about 2,500 beds total. Williams said the shelters are full or nearly full on a normal night.
"When we have cold weather, they are absolutely full, and that’s where emergency shelters that the city and Austin Street and Our Calling have set up here are so critical because there really is nowhere else for people to go," Williams said.
Williams said having a partner like Texas Baptist Men is a game changer when it comes to feeding the homeless.
"A lot of our groups that provide meals might be able to do 300 meals or maybe 500 meals. The Texas Baptist Men has the capacity to do thousands of meals, and that’s a really big deal in a situation like this," she said.
"All these folks want to share the love of Jesus to the folks of Dallas. Even though they’re behind the scenes, their actions are sharing that love of Jesus," said David Wells, with Texas Baptist Men.
Linda Ann Johnson, who is unsheltered, is grateful for the shelter.
"Thank you, thank you Lord for giving us this opportunity to have somewhere to go," she said.
Dallas weather: Arctic blast moves into North Texas Saturday
An arctic blast is expected to send temperatures tumbling on Saturday and there's a chance we could see snow, freezing rain and sleet in the days ahead. Here's a look at our forecast.
Texas Baptist Men had 35 volunteers who helped Saturday.
The call went out two days ago and people were clamoring to respond.
"We prepared 450 meals [Saturday]. We prepared sausage and gravy and eggs and biscuit meal type of thing for them," Wels said.
Volunteers were doing everything from cleaning utensils to cooking meals. They started prepping food around 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
"Our volunteers, they’re very resilient. They want to serve. They want to bring help, hope and healing to the world. Whether it’s overseas or whether it’s here at home, they’re willing to serve," Wells said.
Dallas weather: Warming centers open across North Texas
With an arctic blast sending temperatures below freezing for 80+ hours, several warming centers are being opened up across North Texas.
Johnson, who is living with multiple sclerosis, usually has a hard time finding a bed at a shelter.
She's thankful to be out of the coming frigid temperatures.
"With these people bringing us here and having us a place to go means a lot to me," Johnson said.
Our Calling will also be driving around and picking up homeless people who are looking for shelter.
If you'd like to help, you're asked to visit Our Calling’s website, where you can sign up for shifts.
You can make a donation on the site if you'd prefer to help that way.