MORGANTOWN — In the days leading up to a brutally cold Christmas weekend, Becky Rodd said staff and volunteers with the Monongalia County Warming Shelter anticipated they might see as many as 25 people using the seasonal resource located in Hazel’s House of Hope.
What they saw instead, Rodd continued, was evidence of a crisis.
As of Tuesday, 60 people were sleeping in the emergency shelter. Another 20 have been placed in hotel rooms through a grant-funded program launched by community volunteer group Morgantown Ramp. Those numbers don’t include the people in the year-round shelter operated by Bartlett Housing Solutions.
“So we’re talking about 110 people we’re sheltering, plus we know there are still people living in abandoned houses,” Rodd said. “We were all a little shell-shocked. I’ll say that. We just didn’t expect it. It’s way, way more than any of us anticipated.”
Rodd, who serves as coordinator of the emergency warming shelter, said the ability to adapt to the influx of people was hampered by the fact that it was Christmas weekend, meaning staffing and volunteers were difficult to come by.
“We were really scrambling,” she said. “It was certainly a weather crisis and a weather emergency, but more than that I think it’s also become very clear to all of us that we have a crisis of homelessness in Morgantown.”
The emergency shelter is open after 4 p.m. during the week and 24-hours Saturday and Sunday, regardless of temperature. During weekdays, guests of the shelter often go to Friendship House using free bus service to and from Hazel’s House of Hope. Meals are provided by another HHH tenant, The Salvation Army.
Ash Orr, one of the organizers with Morgantown Ramp, said the group works closely with the warming shelter and makes hotel rooms available for families or individuals who are uncomfortable in the group setting.
Those individuals are provided bags with first aid kits, protein snacks, socks, gloves, hygiene products and other basic needs. They’re also provided meals, often prepared and delivered by community volunteers.
While primarily focused on serving Morgantown’s unsheltered community, Orr said the group has also used donations to purchase blankets and even space heaters in recent days for people with shelter but a lack of heat.
“If we have the means to help others in our community who may be housed but are struggling to stay warm, we’re going to step in and help,” Orr said.
Both Rodd and Orr said there’s no question lives were saved in the last few days, pointing to news reports of at least 60 deaths nationwide due to the winter storm.
“We’re thankful that we have the privilege to be doing this,” Orr said. “Yes, we’re tired. We’re stretched thin. We’re all dealing with illnesses, but we should all remind ourselves that we have helped individuals. We’ve kept individuals safe. We have stepped in where our systems have failed. That’s all that matters to us, that we’re keeping our community members safe.”
Rodd said she hopes people are paying attention.
“It needs to be, to me, a wake-up call for the community that we really do have a crisis of people being homeless. In terms of the winter, it’s certainly a shelter issue, but as far as I’m concerned nobody should ever be without a safe place to sleep at night,” she said.
Both the emergency warming shelter and Morgantown Ramp are accepting donations and volunteers. Morgantown Ramp can be contacted via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You can also contact the Monongalia County Warming Shelter through Facebook or Rodd directly at rebeccarodd@yahoo.com.
