Community organizations help provide shelter assistance

As the wintry weather makes its way into San Marcos, Community Organization Active in Disasters (COAD) has teamed up with the Homeless Coalition of Hays County, the Blanco River Regional Recovery Team and the Southside Community Center to provide shelter for unhoused individuals in the San Marcos community. 

With temperatures expected to drop tremendously, the organizations are also asking San Marcans to help by donating funds to provide overnight shelter during the winter weather conditions once shelter space has reached capacity. 

“We've kind of established that when it drops, when temperatures drop below 32 degrees for a consecutive three hours throughout the night, that we open a shelter,” COAD Chair Monica Follwell, said. “So that being Southside, when Southside is at max capacity, then we’re leaning on those other organizations that give direct care, to help us find housing.” 

The Southside Community Center will be open Thursday through Sunday to provide emergency shelter assistance. Those interested in donating to provide motel stays can do so by visiting the Blanco River Regional Recovery website at https://br3t.org/. 

“We would love the community to spread the word on folks that they see on the street that Southside is going to be open and that we're going to be doing some intake over there,” Follwell said. “They'll get dinner, they'll get breakfast and they'll get a warm place throughout the night.”

According to Follwell, local churches, community emergency response team (CERT) volunteers and local and county governments are helping by providing supplies and shelter. Through this process, COAD also tries to engage and discern what is the capacity of sheltering needed here in San Marcos. 

For those interested in volunteering, they can reach out to COAD via email at info@coadsmtx.org or by visiting their website at www.coadsmtx.org. 

“We are looking for other organizations, businesses, nonprofits, individuals in our community to be a part of those organizations between the COAD and the Homeless Coalition, because we just, we want to have a holistic plan and a holistic answer to some of the problems we see are existing in our community,” Follwell said.

This story was updated after its original publication.