photo credit: Michael Potts
The winter season is officially upon the high school community, and as temperatures drop, there’s a higher need for someplace warm to stay. But where can homeless individuals go?
Around the Columbus area, there are a large number of warming centers that can facilitate those in need of shelter, food, clothing and more. A lot of these centers are non-profit organizations, churches and/or community groups that have staff and volunteers to assist in making those who are less fortunate feel welcome and comfortable.
“Warming centers are temporary shelters that are located around the city that open when the temperature drops to a certain level to keep unhoused people from dying from exposure,” Olentangy Schools Social Worker Dan Murph said.
According to the Community Shelter Board, homelessness is at an all-time high within the Central Ohio area. Knowing that there is a high rate of homelessness, that means that a lot of warming centers are going to be at full capacity, leaving others with little to no resources.
In the halls of the high school, there are large portraits of people experiencing homelessness, and it left a lot of questions among the students. Oftentimes, people experiencing homelessness get overlooked by many just because they’re less fortunate. Yet, because they don’t have as many luxuries, that doesn’t make them any less human.
“My main goal was to get people thinking about people experiencing homelessness more and to try to push people to think of them as individuals,” sophomore Michael Potts said. “They are still people just like everyone else, which a lot of people I feel get a little disconnected from that fact.”
A press release from My Project USA states, “In collaboration with the Community Shelter Board (CSB), MY Project USA is opening a Warming Center at the Hilltop Youth Empowerment Center to provide critical shelter and services to vulnerable adults during the winter months. This bold step comes as MY Project USA faces a cash flow crisis, requiring the organization to raise $200,000 by the end of this year to sustain its community resource warehouse and food pantry operations through 2025”.
My Project USA is a Muslim social service organization that focuses on providing an environment where the youth can seek education and also where the youth can find others to relate to.
Homelessness is a very tragic circumstance but there are many different ways people in the community can help and advocate for it.
“There are plenty of charities, food banks, homeless shelters and even lending them a few bucks or some food can be a great way to help,” Potts said. “I encourage anyone looking to help out to even go up and straight up ask people experiencing homelessness what they need as they obviously know best.”
Places like My Project USA, Star House, Columbus Relief, and others, are shelters that do accept volunteer help as well, as this is another way to help and advocate for homelessness.
“Warming centers around Columbus can be found by accessing The Community Shelter Board. There is also a warming station in Delaware called A Place of Warmth – Zion,” Murph said. “If people would like to help out, the best way is to reach out directly to those agencies to ask what they can do to help”.
There’s a plethora of resources in Columbus, Ohio for homeless people during the winter seasons. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, there are places where those who are seeking shelter can reside in and keep warm.
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