Pandemic creates challenges for homeless shelters seeing a spike in people in need during winter storms

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — With cool winter temperatures expected to impact the Cape Fear region once again. many are concerned about how our neighbors in the homeless population in need of emergency shelters have been impacted by the winter weather.

The Salvation Army of the Cape Fear is one of the organizations in Wilmington that offers emergency shelter to those in need, and Major Ken Morris says they have seen a significant spike in the number of people in the homeless community seeking a warm place to shelter as temperatures have dropped during the month of January with recent winter storms bringing ice, snow, and freezing rain.

The pandemic has impacted shelters and their capacity levels, now having to limit the number of people they allow to stay.

“Well our shelter remains full, and we apologize, but because of COVID the health department is watching us very closely, and we and other shelter in town are still limited to 50% capacity, and so where as we normally we’d allow 50 or so, where our capacity is now 29,” said Major Ken Morris, Salvation Army of the Cape Fear.

Major Ken Morris said if COVID-19 did not present additional challenges, the shelter would try to accommodate the influx of people seeking their services allowing them into the salvation army’s facilities.

“Previously, under cold weather conditions we’d open up our lobby, open up our dining room, let people just sleep in the hallway whatever, just to get everybody off the streets, we can’t do that right now,” said Major Ken Morris.

Major Ken Morris says the salvation army works with other agencies to help connect people in the homeless population with resources as they see an increase in the number of people needing their help.

He said some people in the homeless population have shared with him how they plan to weather to frigid temperatures if they are not able to stay in a shelter.

“I was talking to a man yesterday, and he’s got propane that he uses for heat and for cooking, he’s found a place he can plug in from the outside, and he’s in a little tent, and he’s got up a bed that’s up above the grounds, so it’s not on the ground,” said Morris.

Major Morris encourages people to volunteer with the warming shelters when they open to help provide those in the homeless population with a safe shelter from the cold weather, due to shelters seeing a decrease in volunteers.