Amarillo Housing First seeks help supporting warming stations

With temperatures dropping during the winter season and below freezing wind chills over the past week, the Code Blue Warming Station of Amarillo, funded and managed by non-profit Amarillo Housing First located at 207 N. Tyler St., is seeking help this holiday season to meet the community needs.

Amarillo Housing First is a non-profit working to assist chronically unhoused individuals in obtaining and maintaining permanent housing following the Housing First model, as a part of this mission the organization also opens their doors overnight during extreme winter weather with the Code Blue Warming Station to provide a lifesaving outreach to unsheltered individuals and their pets throughout Amarillo.

"We would like to open more but we face issues with our funding volunteer needs that hinder us from being able to open our warming station more often. ... this year has been particularly challenging, the warming station initially began in December of 2017, that first year we were able to manage the season off volunteer work and donations. Over the past four years we have relied on grant funding to help us through the season but those grants were unavailable this year and we are relying on the resources we have to make it through the winter this year," said Amarillo Housing First vice president/executive director, Virginia Williams Trice.

Weather factors that determine the opening of the warming station include, three or more hours of 18 degree wind chill or lower, actively falling or recent ground accumulation of winter precipitation or a 70% or higher prediction of winter precipitation in the forecast. These factors are determined utilizing the U.S. National Weather Service Amarillo Texas tabular forecast for Downtown Amarillo area code 79101.

On the nights that the Code Blue Warming Station is open their hours of operation are from 7 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. at the warming station unsheltered individuals, after signing in, are able to enter the facility to keep warm with the provided coffee, hot chocolate, and shelf stable food option available throughout the night. Attendees can also utilize their restroom facilities and emergency clothing including socks, coats, hats, gloves, scarves and other warming clothing items. Other items such as had warmers and travel size toiletries are also provided.

According to Williams Trice, the station has so far been open for five nights this 22-23 winter season and serves approximately 80 individuals and six dogs each night. On average the station is open 45 nights throughout the winter season that can begin as early as September and end as late as April.

"We would love to be open more often, if we raised our requirements to just 20 degrees we would have an additional 100 nights from our current average, and that is something we want for those unsheltered but isn't something that we currently have the funding abilities for," said Williams Trice.

"There are many different reasons why these individuals may not have shelter security, and we are helping them to reach that security but that takes time. ...They are a part of the community, they are people, they are parents, they are someone's child and they deserve to have this basic need met. I encourage the community to consider helping us whether it be donating gloves or blankets, clothing or volunteering or a monetary donation," Trice added.

According to the organization's CEO they are in the process of applying for next year's grant opportunities that were not available this year but are seeking the communities help to proceed through the 22-23 winter season.

The Code Blue Warming station asks that during activation hours if an individual is seen out in the weather overnight to please text them at 806-414-2243 with a location and description of the individual, so volunteers can check on the individual.

For those seeking to volunteer, Amarillo housing First will host volunteer training on Dec. 17 located at their office the training will include safety, security and compassion.

To make a donation to the Amarillo Housing First Code Blue Warming Station you can make a donation via Paypal at https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/AmarilloHousingFirst or via Venmo: @AHF-AmarilloHousingFirst.

Checks and money orders can also be made out and mailed/ delivered to: Amarillo Housing First, 207 N Tyler St., Amarillo, TX 79107 with Code Blue Warming Station or CBWS in the memo line to designate the funds.

For question or to stay up to date on opening information, follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CodeBlueAmarillo

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo Housing First seeks help supporting warming stations