This year, the warming shelter is operating out of Grace United Methodist Church downtown, which has a large gymnasium they’ve filled with cots.
Each night, more and more people have come there for warmth, food, and safety: 107 Wednesday night. But because of the extended and early cold snap, the organizers had to move fast to get the shelter running.
Oganizers said the top priority is financial support: the two Methodist pastors who run the shelter, Meg McBride and Jamie Thompson, are working unpaid overtime to run the shelter.
McBride said the shelter has expanded its operations recently to accommodate requests from new Hanover County — all without additional resources.
"We were asked to do cooling shelters and extreme storm shelters," she said. "Our operations continue to expand, and it only works if there are organizers to do that work."
McBride said she is thrilled to offer more to the community and expand, but wants to seek out resources to help facilitate that expansion.
Volunteers are a big help, of course. John Chickering moved to the area two years ago, and this is his first week being deeply involved with the warming shelter. He spent Thursday afternoon cooking dinner for more than 100 people.
"It really is rewarding. And one of my watch words is live to give, and this is just one way for me to really live that out,” he said.
He said community support has been tremendous, and that the shelter’s Facebook page is a great place to check for ongoing needs while the facility is open. The shelter keeps running out of packaged snacks and canned soda, especially, which McBride says are key parts of their work.
"We've operated on the premise of radical hospitality, which means there is abundance and people can have as much as they want. This is an important message, especially when people live their lives in scarcity. So if we can communicate that through cans of soda and bags of Cheetos, we're going to continue to do that," she said.
But McBride said an even better way for locals to help is through financial donations, which ensure it’ll be there for each cold night to come this winter.
