Homeless Shelters Prepare for Coldest Night of Season – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Organizations helping the homeless stand ready to open additional shelters on Thanksgiving night, when a cold front is set to bring freezing temperatures to north Texas. Meanwhile, volunteers were handing out donated turkey meals and all that goes with them.

Help was non-stop on Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth, where many homeless people congregate.

Families and church groups came by with after-dinner food to give away.

“We came here to help people who don’t have hot food today,” said Arlington dental assistant Laura Berridge, who put boxes of hot food in the trunk of her pickup truck. “I feel good about that.”

“It’s about bringing hot food to good people and loving them,” she said.

For people like Red Fox, who live in a tent, the donations mean a lot.

“I am grateful,” he said.

Experts say that all street donations are nice, but it would be better that people work directly with the shelters so that there isn’t so much rubbish on the streets and people are encouraged to sleep in tents – outside of the system that is in place was to help them.

Meanwhile, news of the approaching cold front spread on the street.

Homeless advocates said they were ready to open additional shelters if needed.

“We identify early on what accommodations can accommodate how many people and what it looks like, and have another partner on hand who can open an additional facility or find places for the people,” said Lauren King, executive director of the Tarrant County Homeless nonprofit Coalition.

There was also a lot going on in the accommodations.

Pathway Church volunteers have been preparing Thanksgiving meals for 12 years at True Worth Place, operated by the Presbyterian Night Shelter.

“This is just a wonderful time for us to come and eat together and have a really nice Thanksgiving,” said Kathy Colomo of the Burleson Church.

The Coalition of Homeless People estimates that 1,200 people are homeless in Tarrant County. That’s a significant decrease from 2,100 before the pandemic.

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Homeless Shelters Prepare for Coldest Night of Season