It might seem strange for someone to think about cold weather with the extreme heat wave blanketing the Ozarks this week.
The volunteers and organizers with Springfield’s Crisis Cold Weather Shelter (CCWS) program know it won’t be long before they are working to provide overnight shelters for people in Springfield's unsheltered community.
The CCWS is a network of shelter sites that open on nights when the forecast calls for overnight temperatures to drop to 32 degrees or colder. The shelters are primarily housed in church buildings throughout Springfield and are staffed by volunteers who take turns working and sleeping.
For anyone interested in learning about the many ways to help with the CCWS program, an open house will be held 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, at Unity of Springfield, 2214 E. Seminole St.
Volunteer opportunities include providing meals, helping with transportation, laundry, as well as the overnight volunteers.
The Gathering Tree, the nonprofit that operates the Revive 66 Campground (which also serves as a CCWS site), will bring one of its tiny tear-drop campers to the open house.
Shelter program needs one more location
Ashley Quinn, chair of the CCWS subcommittee, said there is an urgent need for at least one new shelter site this year. Quinn learned about a week ago that Asbury United Methodist Church, one of churches that served as a shelter location in past winters, will not serve as a shelter this winter. Asbury had a capacity to shelter 35 people.
Quinn said the CCWS needs another building with capacity for about 35 people. It must be LGBTQ-affirming and pet friendly.
Most if not all of the volunteers who served at Asbury’s shelter in the past will be willing to volunteer again, if a new location is found. The supplies — cots, blankets and other bedding — from Asbury will also be transferred to the new shelter site.
If anyone has access to such a building and is interested in learning what is involved, come to the open house or reach out to Community Partnership of the Ozarks, the organization that facilitates the CCWS program.
For more information about the many ways to help the CCWS program, visit the CPO website.
