ARVADA, Colo. — With more snow on the way, those experiencing homeless will need a find a place to stay. For some in the metro area that got a little harder after the recent closing of the Severe Weather Shelter Network (SWSN).
In an email to supporters dated in August, SWSN announced it would shut its doors. They stated they did not have the financial means or church involvement to keep the shelters open.
Mission Arvada, a church in northern Jefferson County, was often an overflow shelter for the SWSN.
"We just immediately got together with my pastor and my team here and we prayed and we felt that we needed to do this," Karen Cowling, the Director of Mission Arvada said. "We needed to fill that gap for the northern part of Jefferson County."
"We've seen firsthand even in our day shelter through the years how dangerous the cold is. We have people coming in with severe frost bite, hypothermia during the day after spending the night out in the cold."
Mission Arvada decided to fill the need the closure of SWSN created. They have set up a severe weather shelter that will open when temperatures go below 20 degrees and/or there is six inches of snow on the ground. They opened for the first time on Wednesday.
Jeff Kruse stayed the night.
"Rather than being out there in the elements being in here it's priceless," Kruse explained. "You're warm you don't have to worry about anything so it's really a great thing."
Mission Arvada welcomed 35 people on Wednesday night with a maximum of roughly 40, they were close to capacity. But the opening of the shelter doesn't come without its challenges. Cowling said it costs a lot to run the shelter, and unexpected expenses are piling up. On Wednesday morning, the church's boiler room flooded. Cowling expects it to cost $5,800 for a full repair.
"We're just trying to do what we can, even band-aid fixes to keep the building warm," Pastor Jarrod Irwin said. He knows how important it is for them to stay open.
"I was homeless myself actually as a young adult a couple of different times," he explained. "Wouldn't be here if I didn't receive help then so."
Cowling said with the help of a few area churches, they have about 250 volunteers to help but always welcome more people and more funding.