CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia continues to face frigid temperatures following the ice and snow from the winter storm this past weekend and warming shelters are popping up to help residents escape the cold during the deep freeze.
The Kanawha Valley Collective is the one operating one in Charleston at the Bream Neighborhood SHOP located at 317 West Washington Street. The center operates from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
KVC Executive Director Traci Strickland said they’ve had hundreds of people come through the center to either get warm, eat or sleep. She expects those numbers to rise as the week goes on.
She said they were opened Friday night into Saturday morning and once they opened Saturday night, they’ve remained open since then.
Strickland said they try to have one during they day and night to ensure people have somewhere to go in the cold.
“We get a lot of pushback sometimes because people think we’re only open at night and that we basically turn people out during the day with nowhere to go, we really work on making sure there’s a warm place inside 24-hours a day,” she said.
She also said that Bream offers there own services during the day as well.
She expressed that the warming center is for everyone who may need it, not just those experiencing homelessness.
“We know we’ve had people come in whether it’s been just to warm up or get something to eat or actually come in and stay because they’ve had either power out at their house or just inadequate heat in your house, I mean when it’s as cold as it is continually a lot of furnaces, especially older furnaces, really just can’t keep up,” Strickland said.
She said they have been able to operate as good as they could have expected. Strickland said they were able to prepare days before the storm.
She acknowledged that they had a lot of help from their local partners in order to ensure they were able to have these warming centers.
“We’ve had support from our partners, volunteers, from staff, the City of Charleston, not only provides us funding to do this but has just been incredibly helpful as far as medical things going on with the people that may come in,” Strickland said.
Those interested in volunteering or donating needed items such as blankets, coats, and cold weather gear can reach out to United Way of Central West Virginia President Margaret O’Neal at 304-340-3503 or email, moneal@unitedwaycwv. org.