What would you do if it was 11 degrees and you had nowhere to go?
Winter has arrived bringing with it icy precipitation, extremely low and dangerous temperatures, and biting winds that inspire dreams of tropical beaches and backyard BBQs. We have already experienced temperatures lower than anything we felt last December and we know that mother nature is just getting started.
While snowfall may be inconvenient and we begrudgingly pull on our snow gear and grab our shovels to clear it away, for our friends living on the street the cold temperatures, freezing rain, and snow can be deadly. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, 16 New Yorkers experiencing homelessness died last year due to cold exposure.
Code Blue Measures:
NY and NJ have measures in place to help bring people indoors when the weather is particularly dangerous. Both states have a policy called “Code Blue'' for when there are freezing temperatures and wintry conditions that make sleeping outside even more perilous than usual. While the conditions to determine Code Blue differ by state, in general, when in effect, shelters, emergency rooms, police stations, and other warming centers open their doors to maximum building capacity, in some cases pausing more time-consuming intake and eligibility procedures to do so. NYC also dispatches increased outreach teams to offer options for anyone experiencing homelessness to get indoors during these periods.
Challenges:
However, some people feel even less safe entering a congregate shelter environment due to a traumatic experience they endured while staying there. In addition, the CDC and other health officials are sounding the alarm about the flu, other respiratory illnesses, and COVID (which simply refuses to take a hint and go away). This binary choice of risking your health by sleeping rough during the coldest months of the year or going inside and contracting an illness that could be life-threatening to someone who is immunocompromised raises the stakes even higher than usual.
How you can help:
You can help us this winter season to make sure that our guests with no place to go have access to a warm and safe place to escape the weather. Just $20 allows us to provide a hot meal, tangible resources, and connections to emergency shelters for one person. Due to the generosity of two of our donors, now you can double your impact.
With gratitude,
Josiah