Matt Talbot extends hours to provide more protection from the cold
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Temperatures forecast to reach below minus 10 degrees are posing a threat to those with no roof over their heads.
That’s where Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach is stepping in.
The center serves two meals a day — lunch and dinner — and normally operates from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 pm. But it kept its doors open until 10 p.m. Wednesday to keep the guests warm for longer.
And with the temperatures expected to get even colder Thursday morning, Matt Talbot will be opening its doors at 6 a.m., 2½ hours earlier than normal.
“We’ve been monitoring the weather, and we know the shelter in town is overflowing,” Executive Director Alynn Sampson said. “We’ve just kind of been questioning, ‘What is our part in this?’ There are individuals that are staying in cars and are still staying outside. Our goal was to decrease that amount of time as much as we can.”
There were roughly a few dozen people who stayed all throughout the day.
“It’s cold out; people are homeless,” said one of them, Seymour Wilson. “They’re getting blessed out here. They got a place to eat, talk and get along with people.”
SEE ALSO: Some students outraged, but UNL stands by decision keep class in session during cold snap
Another Matt Talbot guest said the extension of the hours “means everything to me, being that I am homeless.”
“It gives us a great place to go where we can have support,” Dontae Richards said.
In this weather, the guests at Matt Talbot said even a few hours out of the cold makes a huge difference.
“A lot of times, people don’t know, when you have nowhere to go, it’s real hard,” Wilson said. “But, when you got a place like this that shows you love, it gives you hope and an uplifting that will take you to a higher place in life.”
Thursday’s hours will be from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
SEE ALSO: Lincoln Public Schools again cancels class because of cold
