Cold weather shelters open across Central Florida

ALL RIGHT TONY THANK YOU. NOW, AS HE JUST SHOWED US LOWS EXPECTED IN THE 30S AND 40S, THIS WEEK MEANS EMERGENCY SHELTERS ARE OPENING THEIR DOORS. WESH 2’S HAYLEY CROMBLEHOLME IS AT MATTHEW’S HOPE MINISTRIES IN WINTER GARDEN. AND HALEY, IT’S BEEN QUITE A WHILE SINCE THEY’VE HAD TO OPEN SO MANY DAYS IN A ROW. YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT, THEY SPENT TODAY PICKING UP SOME PEOPLE IN THE COUNTY ON BUSSES LIKE THIS ONE, AND THEY BROUGHT THEM HERE TO WINTER GARDEN, WHERE THEY’VE SET UP AN EMERGENCY SHELTER. NOW, MATTHEW’S HOPE WAS FOUNDED ABOUT MORE THAN A DECADE AGO DURING A COLD SNAP LIKE THIS ONE. AND THEY SAY IT’S PROBABLY BEEN THAT LONG SINCE THEY’VE OPENED UP THIS MANY DAYS STRAIGHT. THEY’RE RIGHT NOW PREPARING TO BE OPEN AT LEAST THROUGH THURSDAY. MATTHEW’S HOPE MINISTRIES GOT READY MONDAY NIGHT FOR ANOTHER EVENING OF OPENING THEIR EMERGENCY SHELTER. IT’S QUITE COLD OUT THERE RIGHT NOW, JAMES EVANS WOULD DESCRIBE HIS HOUSING SITUATION AS POOR. POOR. FOR NOW, HE OPTED TO STAY AT THE SHELTER MONDAY NIGHT. I APPRECIATE MATTHEW DOING THIS FOR ME WITH HOT MEALS AND A WARM PLACE TO SLEEP. IT’S JUST LIKE IT’S BEING AT HOME AND THE MINISTRY WILL BE HOME FOR SOME FOR SEVERAL DAYS, WITH TEMPERATURES DIPPING DOWN MULTIPLE TIMES. THIS WEEK. WE WERE OPEN LAST NIGHT BECAUSE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DIP PRETTY LOW EARLY THIS MORNING, AND RIGHT NOW WE’RE WE KNOW WE’LL BE OPEN AT LEAST THROUGH THURSDAY AND POTENTIALLY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. KIM THOMPSON SAYS THE MINISTRY WAS FOUNDED DURING A COLD SNAP LIKE THIS ONE, ROUGHLY 15 YEARS AGO. PROBABLY BEEN THAT LONG SINCE WE’VE HAD THIS LONG OF A STRETCH AS A SHELTER. SUNDAY NIGHT, SHE SAYS, ONLY A FEW PEOPLE SHOWED UP, BUT WITH EACH COLD NIGHT THAT PASSES, SHE’S EXPECTING MORE. NORMALLY ON THE FIRST NIGHT, YOU KNOW, IF IT’S SUPER COLD, PEOPLE CAN KIND OF WITHSTAND IT. BUT BY THE SECOND OR THIRD NIGHT, YOUR YOUR BODY, YOU NEED TO BE WARM. SO I WOULD THINK BY TOMORROW NIGHT OR THE NEXT NIGHT, WE, WE COULD HAVE SEE SOME MUCH HIGHER NUMBERS. SHE SAYS THAT COULD BE AS MANY AS 50 OR 60 PEOPLE. IF YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW, JUST BEING COLD ONE NIGHT DOES TO YOUR BODY. I MEAN, YOU’RE YOU’RE OUT IN THE ELEMENTS AND IT’S DEVASTATING. SHE SAYS IF THERE’S A FEELS-LIKE TEMPERATURE SUSTAINED IN THE 30S, THEY OPEN THEIR DOORS. SO WE JUST REALLY FEEL LIKE THIS IS A TIME WHERE EVEN JUST AS A COMMUNITY AND THIS IS WHAT WE, YOU KNOW, WE DO. WE HAVE TO HAVE A SAFE, WARM PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO COME DURING THIS WEATHER. AND MATTHEW’S HOPE MINISTRIES DOES HAVE A LOCATION IN BREVARD COUNTY. THEY OPENED AN EMERGENCY SHELTER AS WELL. AND LIKE I SAID, HERE IN WINTER GARDEN, THEY ARE PLANNING ON BEING OPEN UNTIL THURSDAY. BUT IT COULD BE LONGER DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER. FOR NOW, COVERING ORANGE COUNTY. LI