SEARCY — Janie Orr was enjoying watching the snow from her cozy Searcy home one winter morning when the thought struck her that there were people out there who were cold. It wasn’t the first time Orr had thought about the plight of the homeless, but this time she would be able to do something about it.
With the help of Seth Simmons from The One Inc., a charity whose goal it is to help the homeless get back their dignity, Orr organized a “warming center” for the homeless population in the Searcy area that she hopes will morph into a year-round effort to provide relief not only from winter’s chill, but from the brutal heat of summer as well.
After a chance meeting between her husband, who is senior pastor at First Methodist Church in Searcy, and Simmons at a ministerial alliance meeting, Orr said the winter-relief project came together in a flurry of activity.
At the time, a winter storm was on the horizon, and Simmons asked if it would be possible to establish a warming center before the freezing temperatures and precipitation hit White County. With a team of volunteers, Orr was able to find the needed food and supplies in the nick of time.
“Literally 30 minutes before we opened, I found bedding from the Red Cross,” she said. “It all fell into place perfectly.”
For his part, Simmons said, the success of the partnership with Orr and the volunteers thus far has been “mind-blowing.”
The warming facility was located in the First Methodist Church building on Main Street in downtown Searcy. Orr said subcommittees of volunteers were quickly put into place to handle the various duties that went into providing people with hot meals and a respite from the extreme weather conditions.
With the heat of summer looming ahead, Orr said, she hopes the church will be able to give the area’s homeless a place to get a cold drink and perhaps a shower at the nearby church thrift store.
“Having a cooling station in the summer would be great,” Simmons said of the possibility. “Giving the homeless a place to get out of the heat for 30 minutes or so and get something to eat and drink would be a big help.”
The winter relief that the “warming center” provided was an option for those who would have had nowhere to go during the frigid nights that hit the county in February.
“I’ve battled through three winters hoping that I wouldn’t find somebody dead,” Simmons said. “This has been a huge comfort.”
Local residents might have seen Simmons driving his lime-green van, dubbed “the Mission Machine,” around Searcy. He noted that when that 1983 vehicle was in need of expensive repairs, he was able to obtain a 2009 model through donations. Since the new van wasn’t the bright green color that the homeless had become accustomed to looking for, Simmons said that Charlie’s Paint and Body Shop in Searcy agreed to give the van a paint job as a donation.
That offer of kindness is another example of how the people of Searcy are building a bridge of support and friendship to the homeless in White County.
“Building community with the homeless has been huge,” Simmons said of the First Methodist “warming center,” which was housed in the church’s gymnasium. “Churches sit empty for a lot of the time, and for them to open the church up for the homeless was cool.”
At any given time, Orr said, the church has accommodated three to 10 members of the homeless population. Getting to know their individual stories and providing a comforting ear to those who need it have been both a blessing and a struggle, she said.
“We have to realize that we can’t fix all their problems, just be a friend,” she said. Orr estimated that the homeless people who have come in have ranged in age from their 20s to 60s.
Simmons said there was a lull in the number of new homeless in the area during the latter part of January. However, in recent weeks, there has been an increase of two to three new homeless people per day.
He noted that efforts to help them through the difficult winter storms haven’t been forgotten by the
homeless people with whom he is in contact on a daily basis.
“They ask about [the volunteers] on a regular basis, and it’s cool to know that they see themselves as part of the community more now,” he said.
For more information about helping the homeless of White County, call First Methodist Church at (501) 268-5896 or visit the Mission Machine Facebook page.