Columbia's homeless find shelter from the cold

The city provides services to help the homeless during winter months.

By Paige Pritchard and Will Guldin

Published Jan. 23, 2009

In the coldest months of the year, Columbia provides a number of different programs to provide warmth and shelter for those in need.

"There are several programs in place to help the homeless when the weather gets this cold," Voluntary Action Center Director Cindy Mustard said. "I understand locations are fairly full, but they do not turn anyone away when it is cold."

The VAC offers help with bus passes and provides coats, mittens and a food pantry.

Other social service organizations around Columbia include the Salvation Army Harbor House, the St. Francis House and the Loaves and Fishes Day Center.

The St. Francis House opens its doors at 6:30 p.m. every night, offering dinner, a place to sleep and breakfast before closing at 8:30 a.m.

"We provide hospitality for about a dozen guys who spend the night here," St. Francis House Director Steve Jacobs said. "They come from all over town. Some people are sleeping in their cars, some people are sleeping in abandoned buildings or camping out, and so they come and eat breakfast."

During their stay at the St. Francis House, the people may take care of needs such as showering, using the phone and doing laundry. The St. Francis House provides shelter mainly for individuals.

"We can't take in large families or many individuals at a time," Jacobs said.

Although they do not provide shelter during the day, there are many options available. "On the days it's not open like Saturday or Sunday, guys will go to the library and hangout," Jacobs said. "So there's places for folks to go and get out of the weather."

The Salvation Army Harbor House has been in operation since 1953. Its building, which opened six years ago, has 61 beds to offer. The building is sectioned into a dormitory layout that contains 14 beds for women and 23 beds for men. There are also six family rooms offered that are made up of two sets of beds, a bathroom and dressers.

When the temperature falls below 40 degrees, The Harbor House offers additional lodging.
"Around 4:30 p.m. they can have dinner with us, then around bed time we break out the cots, they can stay overnight and move out after breakfast," Harbor House Director James Chapman said. "This winter, I've had guys who have been here for 30 consecutive nights. For some they can stay a few nights, but for others it's just too cold to camp out in the woods."

Loaves and Fishes provides dinner starting at 5:15 p.m. every day of the week. For each day, a different local organization provides food to around 40 people. Annette Molitor, a volunteer with the Neumann Center said that recently they have been serving around 80 for dinner.

"There's more homeless that don't come in though, and there's a lot of folks camping around the fringes of town," Jacobs said. "So there's probably several hundred around town."

Despite these many programs, the cold remains a concern for many homeless.

"I'm scared of freezing to death, but there's not much you can do about it," said Marty Jenkins, who is homeless. "Just wrap up."

Jenkins said he sleeps every night in his truck and tries his best to stay warm. While eating a hot plate of chicken breast and rice casserole at Loaves and Fishes, Jenkins explains he isn't happy being homeless but he thinks he has no other choice.

"I can't work because of my heart problems, no one is going to hire me, and my doctor told me not to work," he said. "He told me if you keep living outside and doing what you're doing you're not going to live very long. I'm like, 'yeah, thanks for the help.'"