Lincoln’s homeless fight to stay warm as bitter temperatures arrive
With frigid temperatures on the way, there is concern about Lincoln’s homeless. Many aren’t prepared for the temperatures, so when the cold winter winds blow, many of Lincoln’s homeless struggle to stay warm outdoors.
People like Christina and Sydney work to find them and help in any way that they can.
“We just want to be able to help them the best we can. We have some supplies in our backpacks that we offer them,” Christina Lloyd of CEDARS Youth Services said.
It’s an annual census done by CEDARS Youth Initiative and Housing and Urban Development to check up on known and unknown homeless citizens and see how they’re doing.
“In our backpacks we kind of have hats, gloves, hygiene kits, Kleenexes; we have food – beef jerky sticks,” Sydney Trejo, also of CEDARS Youth Services, said.
They take the information of whoever they find and work with them to find them alternative housing and maybe even a job.
Most of the people they encounter are simply ordinary people who have fallen on tough times.
“It’s really rewarding when you do meet the people and then you see where they’re going, because it’s just their current situation. It doesn’t define them; it doesn’t make who they are,” Lloyd said.
The cold is taking its toll on the people’s city mission as well. They’re overcrowded, housing as many as 415 people in the last week. Their designated capacity is only 250. While they provide as many warm clothes as possible, this winter has been a particular challenge.
“This year for some reason the homeless don’t seem to be as prepared. Our guests here, many of them didn’t come with the kind of wardrobe they need to get through the winter,” Pastor Tom Barber of People’s City Mission said. “We’re seeing more people who are just struggling in the cold right now.”
So what can be done to help?
“We are low on coats right now, sweaters. We just ask the public that if you have anything in your closet that you’re not really using that’s warm, boy we could really use it right now,” Barber said.
City Mission particularly needs children’s clothes and extra–large sizes. The City Mission will take food and monetary donations as well. With temps forecast to be in the teens and wind chills well below zero, frostbite will be a concern for everyone outdoors without proper clothing.
If you’d like to drop off donations, you can do so at either the shelter located at 110 Q Street, or at their help center located near 66th & P.
