The cold temperatures this week, which forecasters expect to continue for several more days, have caused an influx of people using shelters or warming centers in central Arkansas.
And the shelters and centers are strained.
North Little Rock has extended the opening of its warming center at 2700 Willow St., the city’s community center. It will now be open from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. Thursday through Sunday, the city said in a news release on Wednesday.
Officer Shana Cobbs, the city’s unsheltered community liaison, said the warming center has been at capacity every night.
“Up until earlier today, we were full. Earlier, we had seven people leave, so now we have seven beds,” she said Wednesday afternoon. “Every time we get inclement weather, we hit capacity. This is my first year running a center, but I’ve volunteered before, and people come in because it gets cold out there.”
Cobbs said several community partners, including local churches and a CHI St. Vincent hospital, have stepped up to make sure the center could provide three meals a day to those in need.
“And we are planning to have dinner available on the rest of the days we are open,” she said.
The liaison said North Little Mayor Terry Hartwick greenlights funding for the center to operate, but she didn't know the specifics.
“It is very important to Mayor Hartwick that those unsheltered residents have a safe place to go,” Cobbs said. “And a lot of the volunteers are my people or city workers.”
She also said she was proud to see other cities nearby open up warming centers, adding that it helps North Little Rock.
“It is tough when sister cities don’t open a warming center because we then can see an influx of people from those cities coming to seek shelter and, when it is just us and Little Rock, that’s when it can get dangerous because we have to start turning people away,” she said.
She said those interested in donating food to the center could call the Police Department at (501) 758-1234, leave a message for her, and that she would reach out.
The Little Rock Compassion Center at 3618 W. Roosevelt Road, a homeless shelter not operated by the city, said it has seen a huge influx of people seeking shelter from the cold this week.
CEO Rev. William Holloway said the shelter won’t turn people away unless they are violent, but supplies are low and donations to support its operations are slowing.
At the same time, it’s bracing for a second arctic air mass forecasters expect to enter the state on Thursday.
Holloway said Wednesday morning said the center has seen around 250 people a night for the past few nights. Typically, the center has around 240 beds, with 200 designated for men and 40 for women and children.
“We’ve gone from serving about 600 meals a day to closer to 700 or 800 a day,” he said. The center provides meals three times a day year round, according to its website.
Holloway said the shelter typically provides shelter or services for around 50 or 60 people a day.
“It’s like people have come in from out of the weeds, a lot of people are leaving [shelters] like tents and coming to the center in order to escape the cold,” he said.
“We’ve run out of beds and had to use mats to lay out on the floor so people could sleep in here the last couple of nights,” he said. “I don’t know how many people have stopped by to ask for coats and blankets.”
Holloway also said the center had not received any additional donations to help it prepare for the subfreezing temperatures. “I’d actually say donations are slowing down with the cold. We’d love to have some [donations]; we’re running out of blankets, pillows, socks, underwear and towels. Our cook told me today we’re almost out of bread,” he said.
According to Holloway, the center does not receive any kind of government funds.
“We’d love food and money to pay our bills,” he said.
But the shelter did not do anything in particular to prepare for the freezing temperatures, Holloway said. “We didn’t expect it to get this cold,” he said.
However, it is somewhat prepared for the next round of cold weather, he said.
“We’re running out of a lot of stuff, but we don’t turn anyone down,” Holloway said. The shelter only turns away people in need if they are violent.
“That’s one thing we’ve never done is turn someone in need away, only if they are violent. We can’t handle violent people here. I would say 99.9% of the time, we’ve never turned anyone away. I don’t like to see anyone suffer, that’s what the center is all about, helping people,” he said.
He said that donation drop-offs can be organized by calling (501) 296-9114, or items can be brought to the center’s location.
“Sometimes our trucks can get out and collect donations, especially larger donations like furniture, but we can’t get our trucks out there due to the snow,” Holloway said.
The city of Little Rock will not be extending its emergency shelter hours, but hotel vouchers will be available, spokesperson Aaron Sadler said in a text to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday.
The shelter at the East Little Rock Community Center at 2500 East Sixth St. opened at 6 p.m. Saturday and remained open through Wednesday.
“Today will be the final day of operations for the temporary emergency shelter. We are making hotel vouchers available to individuals who remained at the shelter this morning to ensure their health and safety during this weather event,” Sadler texted Wednesday afternoon.
The vouchers will be good for three nights, he said. Sadler also said, "The Van (the Little Rock-based nonprofit that operated the shelter for the city) will provide a portion of the funding for the hotel vouchers, but it is uncertain how much funding they will provide at this time.
“If the extreme weather continues, we can work with hotels to extend it beyond three nights as necessary to protect residents from the extreme cold,” he said.
Sadler said around 100 to 120 people stayed at the shelter each night and meals were provided by The Van and its support network.
He said no one was turned away.
“With this extended period of extreme temperatures, it’s difficult for a temporary shelter alone to meet this critical need. Both The Van and the City of Little Rock are committed to making sure those who have been at the shelter have a place to stay,” Sadler said.
Saline County has extended the opening of its warming center to noon on Sunday, the county said in a news release on Wednesday.
The center is located at Northside Church of Christ at 917 N. East St. in Benton.
“As of this morning the Warming Center has provided warmth to over 30 individuals. It has truly taken a village to organize location, meal, supplies and volunteers,” Trevor Villines, a spokesman for the county, said in the release.
“We are in need of more resources to keep the doors open through 12pm Sunday,” Villines said. “I cannot emphasize enough how generous the people of Saline County have been and even the greater Central Arkansas area. It has been very encouraging to see so many coming together to take care of our neighbors in need.”
The release did not specify what resources were needed.
Those interested in volunteering at the warming center can call (501) 528-9668 or email salinewarmingcenter@gmail.com.