Warming Shelters Feeling Pressure from the Cold
BRATTLEBORO -- The chilling temperatures the winter has inflicted on this part of the country are taking a toll on everyone, and local organizations dedicated to helping the homeless are making extra efforts to assist those who are suffering the most.
The Overflow Shelter for the Homeless, operated by both the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center and the interfaith community and based out of First Baptist Church of Brattleboro, has announced it will remain open through April this year, one month longer than usual. Lucie Fortier, the executive director of the Drop In Center in Brattleboro, said the overflow shelter's season typically ends around April 15. She said this will be the second time in its seven-year history the shelter has extended its season.
Fortier also said the shelter started its season earlier than usual -- on Nov. 1, instead of the weekend after Thanksgiving.
According to Fortier, the shelter started seven years ago as a warm place for anyone to stay, and the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Clergy Association six years ago started organizing teams to provide hot meals every day for the shelter's guests. She said various churches, youth groups and organizations have stepped up to the plate, and the shelter never goes a night without hot meals. However, additional meals are needed for dinners on April 13 and 23, as are overnight volunteers for the second shift (1 to 7 a.m.) on Mondays and Wednesdays. According to Dr. Lise Sparrow, the pastor at Guilford Community Church, anyone interested in providing meals can contact Emilie Kornheiser at overflowshelterdinners@gmail.com and overnight volunteers can reach out to Jennifer Haselton at overflow.bratt@gmail.com.
Fortier said she is very grateful to the roughly 30 volunteers who have helped the shelter get through this winter. She said the shelter hosts 20 to 25 people each night, and no one is ever turned away due to lack of space.
The Greater Falls Warming Shelter is expected to close for the season on its usual date (April 15), but Lisa Pitcher, the treasurer of its board of directors, said the shelter opened a couple of weeks earlier than usual last November.
