Outreach workers in DC brave the winter storm to protect homeless during Cold Weather Emergency
Outreach workers in DC brave the winter storm to protect homeless
On Tuesday night, city workers were passing out hand warmers and food, and even offering 24-hour rides to shelters since temperatures are low and dangerous. FOX 5's Nana-Sentuo Bonsu went on a ride along to see just how the city is helping those experiencing homelessness.
WASHINGTON - As the temps drop into the teens, D.C. is currently under a Cold Weather Emergency.
Under this alert, the city is keeping a close eye on some of its most vulnerable residents – including the homeless.
In this type of weather, people experiencing homelessness are exposed to a number of life-threatening illnesses, like hypothermia, due to the cold.
On Tuesday night, city workers were passing out hand warmers and food, and even offering 24-hour rides to shelters since temperatures are low and dangerous.
Arthur Bell, a driver for the United Planning Organization, told FOX 5 that "the most concerned are the ones who refuse to go in."
Outreach workers in DC brave the winter storm to protect homeless during Cold Weather Emergency
Bell’s concern for the homeless – who sleep outside in freezing temps – is what motivates him to drive this shelter hotline van every evening. He doesn’t want to see anyone lose their lives.
"They freeze to death. That’s why I try to check on them every hour and a half," he said.
Through a partnership with the city’s Department of Human Services and United Planning Organizations, outreach workers like Bell are out every night doing welfare checks throughout the city.
FOX 5 rode along with Bell on Tuesday night.
Outreach workers in DC brave the winter storm to protect homeless during Cold Weather Emergency
When we made a stop on H Street – at a bus stop where a couple of residents live – Bell offered a man a ride to a nearby shelter. But he declined. So, he left him with some blankets.
"Ima give you two of them," he said.
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We continued to an encampment near the Garfield Park underpass in Southeast to check on some residents sleeping in tents.
"That’s our main goal, trying to convince people to go in the shelter," Bell explained.
Not all go, but some people like Jeff always take the free ride to the shelter.
"Cause you freeze if you don’t. Your life is depending on it," Jeff told FOX 5.
He has been homeless since 2011.
It's a problem that leaders with DHS do not want people to ignore.
DHS Supervisory Housing Coordinator Quin Grier said, "It is our business and we have to stick together and there is no way that we can do that if we don’t show concern for each other."
Whether it’s calling 311 to request a pick-up for a homeless resident or offering them a warm blanket, Grier says, the community can help save a life this winter.
D.C's Cold Weather Emergency is in effect till Thursday. For more information on how to help those experiencing homelessness in the cold click here.