More than 130 homeless people found a haven from the bitterly cold, snowy weather Thursday in the newly opened day shelter at the Freedom House Conrad Center.
Until it opened Dec. 7, there had not been a day shelter in the city for a decade, and homeless people didn't have a dedicated place to spend the day during extreme winter weather.
"We knew they were going to the emergency rooms and they were going to the libraries to try to stay warm," said Melba Gibbs, executive director of Freedom House, an umbrella organization that has provided homeless services since 1983. "When the libraries closed and City Hall closed, where were they? They were out on the streets."
Barbara Brown, a 52-year-old homeless woman, was one of those people. "I stayed walking around on the streets," said Brown, who would bide her time at a hospital waiting room or in a restaurant. On Thursday, she was happy to be inside Freedom House, where she had already eaten two meals, instead of looking for somewhere to keep warm.
"It's snowing now, and you ain't got to worry about it," Brown said.
Freedom House teamed with the city of Richmond to open the day shelter at its Oliver Hill Way facility, a year-round soup kitchen across the street from the Richmond City Jail. The city of Richmond foots the bill for the day shelter when the temperature dips to 35 degrees or lower. Gibbs said she decided to keep the shelter open the rest of the winter at a cost of about $400 a day. That way, hospitals and police know to direct homeless people there until April 15. Use has been averaging 80 people a day since it opened.
"I just decided this was the year we were going to conquer this beast," she said.
Gibbs said worrying about how homeless people were faring in the sleet and snow was "emotionally draining."
"Working in social services, your first concern is the welfare of your clients," she said. "Everybody at least deserves shelter, food and clothes and to be treated decently."
There are more night shelter options for homeless people. Congregations Around Richmond Involved To Assure Shelter, or CARITAS, put up 138 single homeless people and families in five churches Thursday night. The city opened a cold-weather overflow shelter at Sixth Mount Zion Baptist church in Jackson Ward, which will be open until Sunday.
The Freedom House facility is clean and nice, but there's not a lot to do. People sit around on black plastic chairs, watching television, eating two to three meals, and trying to rest.
"It's better than nothing," said Michael Anderson, 49. "It's better than being outside in the cold."
Shannice Towe and Michael Thompson, who are recently homeless, said television and card games keep people occupied and that there should be a library or computer access so they can look for a job to get back on their feet.
Said Gibbs: "It's really just truly shelter to get them out of the weather."
kgreen@timesdispatch.com
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