Winter shelter available during Arctic freeze

The Homeless Coalition of Hays County and San Marcos Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD) are working together to keep those experiencing homelessness safe during the upcoming freeze.

Southside Community Center will open its cold weather shelter Thursday at 7 p.m. A free dinner is served at Southside, 518 South Guadalupe St. in San Marcos, at 4 p.m.

“Anyone who is seeking refuge from the cold starting Thursday evening may, if they can get down to Southside Community Center, they will be housed there until that fills up,” said. Rev. Joshua Sutherlun, chair of Homeless Coalition of Hays County and pastor at First Presbyterian Church of San Marcos.

Fifty-two beds are ready to be used as shelter and that number could expand, Sutherlun said, adding that local churches will provide meals at Southside during the cold spell.

Sutherlun said if Southside Community Center fills up, community organizations that work through the coalition have permission to put those facing homelessness in motels during this week’s cold weather.

Funds are needed to cover hotel costs for overflow or those who cannot stay in the group. Visit www.br3t.org to supply a motel room for someone in need.

“As far as I know, we won’t run out of lodging,” Sutherlun said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep everyone safe over the coming freeze. The next few nights are going to be awfully cold.”

The National Weather Service is expecting an Arctic cold front to blow through San Marcos between 12-4 p.m. on Thursday, bringing with it a 20-25-degree drop in temperatures. Winds from the north are expected to gust from 20-25 mph overnight. Wind chills are forecast to be at or below zero Thursday night into Friday morning, according to NWS.

A wind chill warning and hard freeze warning have been issued by the National Weather Service and will both go into effect Thursday at 6 p.m.

Southside’s shelter will close at 9 a.m. on Friday for cleaning. The shelter will reopen at 12 p.m. for lunch, according to the Homeless Coalition of Hays County.

Email Deborah Villalpando, Director of Operations, at deborah@southsidecenter.org to volunteer with the cold weather shelter. To donate, go to http://give.SouthsideCenter.org. To help with meals visit: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DADAB28A5FB6-winter.

Sutherlun said the goal is to keep neighbors safe this week.

“It’s a joint effort between members of the coalition and COAD, and the goal is to simply keep our unsheltered neighbors safe over the course of the freeze,” Sutherlun said.