Northwest Arkansas shelters prepared to keep people warm during cold snap

The pandemic has made it a little tricky to keep residents experiencing homelessness warm and safe, but organizations are prepared to try as blistering cold wallops the area this week.

Northwest Arkansas was placed in a winter weather advisory Tuesday. Temperatures likely will dip to single digits by this weekend. Freezing rain is predicted today and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Tulsa, Okla.

Schools and offices across the region are closed Wednesday due to the weather.

This week's weather marks the coldest spell of the season so far for the region, said Bart Haake, meteorologist with the weather service. Temperatures won't break above freezing until possibly the middle of next week, he said.

Windchills could hit -10 degrees at the coldest point Sunday morning, Haake said. Anyone living outdoors will face an extreme risk to their health, he said.

Phyllis Garrett, 56, said she often sleeps on concrete in an area downtown. In times of extreme cold, her toes clench up, and she has difficulty walking.

Garrett usually takes a bus to get around town. On Tuesday, she woke up freezing and made her way to the 7 Hills day center. She has run into conflicts in the past with people staying at the Salvation Army shelter, and hopes to get a hotel voucher this week.

This year has been especially difficult with the covid-19 pandemic, she said.

People working and visiting downtown often would help Garrett with food or money, but when the pandemic hit, fewer of those folks were around, she said.

"I'm used to seeing people every day," Garrett said. "It's not so much anymore."

The Salvation Army has warming centers in Bentonville and Fayetteville usually open when the wind chill is 34 degrees or below. The warming centers are separate from the regular shelters at each site that have stayed open daily since November to provide adequate space for people because of the pandemic, Capt. Josh Robinett said. The organization has up to 71 beds available in Fayetteville and 96 beds in Bentonville, he said.

People staying at Salvation Army have access to showers, toiletries and meals. There are also movies, books, card games and board games.

So far, the shelters and warming stations haven't reached capacity, Robinett said.

If the organization does reach capacity, vouchers will be available for people to stay in hotels, he said. Hotels in Fayetteville, Bentonville and Rogers will accept the vouchers. There is no limit on the number of vouchers. Transportation also can be provided.

A private grant from a local foundation made the vouchers and warming center operations possible, Robinett said. The grant providers asked to remain unidentified, he said.

7 Hills Homeless Center in Fayetteville will have its day center operation at St. James Missionary Baptist Church on Willow Avenue open 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day this week, including Saturday and Sunday, Chief Executive Officer Jessica Andrews said. The center normally is open during weekdays, but the organization will absorb the cost of staff overtime because of the extreme cold, she said.

"That's always a challenge for us just because our team works five days a week and we don't have other team members we can call and have it be open on the weekends," Andrews said. "But, we were able to pull it together for this weekend."

Normally, six staff members and three to five volunteers work at the day center. This weekend's operation will be scaled back to three staff members.

7 Hills moved the day center from South School Avenue to the church building on Willow Avenue in December to accommodate more people safely in a wider indoor space.

Homelessness advocacy organizations counted some of the people experiencing homelessness Jan. 28. The Northwest Arkansas Continuum of Care helps organize an annual count of the sheltered and unsheltered residents. This year's count covered only sheltered populations out of concern for the covid-19 pandemic and found 132 people living in emergency shelters or transitional housing.

Last year's count found 369 people experiencing homelessness, sheltered or unsheltered, in Washington, Benton, Madison and Carroll counties.