With single-digit temperatures expected in the coming days, unhoused individuals across the region remain some of the most vulnerable in the community, with homeless shelters and emergency services preparing to help those in need.
The National Weather Service is calling for temperatures to drop to below freezing in parts of the region beginning Thursday night and remain in the single digits through the weekend.
Not much has changed in regards to expected impacts from the upcoming winter system. Minor snow accums (dusting up to a couple of inches) forecast for the area; a few of us may see more. #kywx pic.twitter.com/cXTFFIl21I
— wxornotBG (@wxornotBG) December 21, 2022
A White Flag alert, issued when temperatures drop below 15 degrees, is expected during the frigid weather. During a White Flag event, local homeless shelters will offer additional services such as warming stations, hot meals, and shelter to anyone in need.
Warren County Emergency Services have begun coordinating with the local chapter of The American Red Cross and local organizations ahead of the freezing temperatures, to ensure anyone that might be at risk has access to emergency shelter if they need it.
“We are working with other agencies across the city and county both to identify those areas, that way we can try to serve the community the best we can,” said Casey Archey, a spokesperson for Warren County Emergency Services. “We wanted to make sure we got it done ahead of time.”
Local nonprofit, Room In The Inn, a winter shelter program for the homeless in Bowling Green, will be on alert ahead of the frigid weather. Organizers have said they have been in communication with the Warren County Emergency Services ahead of the winter blast. During winter months the organization works with the Salvation Army of Bowling Green and different church congregations in the city to provide a warm, safe place for men, women, and children in need.
“We provide emergency winter shelter from November 14 through March 15,” said Jarod Hines, program coordinator at Room In The Inn. “We try to cover all the cold days, but whether it’s 40 degrees or 10 degrees we’re going to continue to provide shelters to those in need.”
The organization has access to 38 beds and will provide transportation and meals to shelters in the area. Room in the Inn also advocates for mental health services using a local nonprofit, Lifeskills, for anyone in need.
In Daviess County and Owensboro, The Daniel Pitino Shelter and St. Benedict’s expects to see an influx of individuals seeking respite from the weather.
“With temperatures dropping as low as they're going to drop, I look for us to have anywhere from 20 to 25 people in the white flag facility,” said Harry Pedigo, director of the Daniel Pitino Shelter. “It’s not just people that are displaced or not housed, it’s also individuals that may not have electric or adequate heat that will seek the white flag shelter.”
The Daniel Pitino Shelter has the capacity to house 65 individuals and provides free lunch and dinner to anyone in need. It will also open a white flag facility that will provide temporary shelter during the inclement weather. Staff also works with individuals to secure more stable living situations during their time at the shelter.
“Just because we take an individual in during a ‘white flag night’, we try to find them a more permanent setting,” Pedigo said. “So if there are beds open at local shelters, we try to get secure those and get them from the white flag facility into those beds.”
According to a spokesperson for St. Benedict’s, the organization’s 64-bed capacity is already met.
According to Pedigo, the cold weather will not break the holiday spirit at their shelter.
“It’s going to be some of our most dangerous weather on Christmas Eve and Christmas day so we want to make sure that we’re conveying that love of Christ to the individuals that are having to seek services with us,” Pedigo said. “It will still be full of holiday cheer around here.”
