This blustery weather is nothing short of bone-chilling.
This blustery weather is nothing short of bone-chilling.
Fortunately area shelters and churches are doing their best to keep as many people as they can out of the elements during the coldest months of the year.
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On an average night, the floors around the Chattanooga Community Kitchen are covered with 85 mats. "We used to be open during what you'd call freezing nights be we decided for us it's easier to be open all the time," Hughes says.
A collaboration with the Homeless Coalition, and a grant from the city of Chattanooga, helped fund increased staffing.
And with milder December weather, Hughes says they're just now seeing an increase in the number of people seeking shelter.
"At night during the months of December, January, February we are going to be open as a night shelter for men, women and families," he says.
Hughes says 110 people are the most they've housed so far.
An overnight stay comes with a mat and blankets.
Hughes described it as no frills.
But during bitterly cold weather the shelter is a temporary home to those who need it, according to Day Center Supervisor, Heather Jones.
"You'll see people huddled against building or laying on cardboard boxes to protect them from the dampness of the earth," she says.
And for those people - and anyone else who needs it - Jones and other staff transform this space to an overnight shelter.
"If we didn't have this them there'd be a lot of people really cold and suffering through inclement weather so, and a lot of these people don't have anywhere else to go," Jones says.
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The emergency night shelter provides a warm place to sleep from 6pm to 6am.
The doors close at 7pm, so get out of the cold and inside by then.
With a capacity of about 200, there's still plenty of room.
Reporting LIVE in the studio, Brittany Shaw, WDEF News 12.
As the mercury plummets, Executive Director Charlie Hughes says the kitchen is busier during the day, and at night.
