Imagine this… you are one of over 40% of households in the United States living just above the Federal Poverty Level. You live paycheck to paycheck, often falling just above the threshold for public assistance but still unable to afford basic necessities like housing food, transportation, and healthcare.
And then winter hits. Your heating needs increase because it’s a colder than normal winter and now you are faced with a $700 bill to fill your heating tank.
Money is already tight. You have to choose between paying rent, buying food for your family, or filling up that heating tank. You choose heating, miss a rent payment, and suddenly you are behind on rent, facing eviction.
Can you imagine the struggle? For many in our community, this isn’t just a hypothetical situation, this is a reality. Winter puts an extra strain on those facing homelessness, whether it’s someone living around the poverty line, or someone whose facing street homelessness.
How Good Sam Is Responding This Winter
In January, over 90 people came to us for shelter and help, the highest number of new participants we’ve had in a single month this fiscal year. Those numbers echo how needs rise as temperatures decrease.
These are individuals like Donna, a woman who had been homeless since July. She came to us at the beginning of the year, ready to get out of the cold and start over. Now, simple tasks like cooking and cleaning have taken on a new meaning after months of living out of her car.
“I’m in my glory!” she said, sending one of our staff photos of the ham she had just put in the oven.
This winter, our community experienced the longest Code Blue period since 2022. A Code Blue is declared when dangerously cold temperatures create life threatening conditions for anyone without adequate shelter. Our team responded, working overtime to help those who came to us for help could find shelter.
Right before this cold spell, we were able to bring five individuals into our program on a single day. One was a single mother with two kids, needing extra financial support to stay in her home. Three individuals were unhoused, living out of their car or sleeping in the local park. Another was an army veteran who needed to get caught up on his rent after his income was cut.
Thanks to the support of our donors, each of those individuals were able to stay out of the dangerous cold and start their journey to stability.
What It Looks Like
Responding to homelessness in these cold temperatures not only looks like providing emergency housing for people facing active homelessness, it also means coming alongside those who are housed and just one emergency away from losing their stability. A single missed paycheck or large oil or electric bill can spiral into late rent payments, electricity shutoffs, and eviction risk. For these individuals, even entering our program for one or two months to receive rental assistance helps them stay ahead of those bills and keep their homes in the coldest months.
What we see over and over again this time of year is how the winter months brings challenges for all those we serve. No matter the stage, we help neighbors weather the cold winter months and prevent temporary setbacks from becoming long-term crises.
Because it’s when winter is at its harshest that the demand for compassion, resources, and support as at its highest.
