Homeless Shelters React to Bitter Cold

The sub-freezing cold snap in Louisville has forced the city’s homeless shelters to start opening their doors to more and more people to help them survive the freezing nights.The Salvation Army’s Center of Hope is at capacity. Director Matt Yates says all 135 beds are filled, and over the last few nights they’ve opened up overflow space with cots and blankets, and have temporarily housed between forty and seventy people there a night.“These are men and women that may sleep in your streets, parks, in the woods, that aren’t yet ready to follow the rules of the shelter, that probably need medication, need some help, so we open our doors to those people," he says.Yates says while the freezing weather is bad, it sometimes helps them reach and help people they otherwise wouldn’t have come in contact with. He says they’re also seeking donations of blankets, coats and winter clothing.

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