As the Sedalia Warming Shelter enters its winter season, it seeks volunteers from churches and local organizations.
The shelter, in the basement of St. Vincent de Paul Parish St. Patrick Catholic Church at 415 E. Fourth St., is open when the wind chill is 15 degrees or lower or when the real-feel temperature is 30 degrees with a 50% chance of precipitation. When the weather is dangerously cold for several days, the shelter remains open 24/7.
On Tuesday, Dec. 5, Kirk Martin, who coordinates the shelter, said there are currently 11 volunteer teams but he would like to see at least 15. Martin noted finding the last four to five teams has been a challenge. Each team requires six people at a minimum.
"If we can do 15 teams, that's basically twice a month for a church or organization would be required to cover," he explained. "And that's only if the weather indicates the need. We would love to say we had 30 churches involved – that every church had a day a month."
The shelter is open during the day if the weather remains frigid. The regular hours for teams to volunteer are in three shifts: 7 to 11 p.m., 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., and 3 to 7 a.m. If the shelter needs to be open 24 hours, that requires three additional shifts.
Martin said the shelter added another shift in the morning from 7 to 9 a.m. The new shift allows guests to eat breakfast before leaving. He said between 7 and 9 a.m., the weather also warms a bit. Guests also help volunteers clean up after breakfast.
The shelter is typically open from November through February and sometimes into March.
The Warming Shelter 2022-23 recap, supplied by the Pettis County Health Center, stated it was open for 30 days last season; of those nights, 11 were 24-hour shifts. During the season, there were 42 guests and 215 collective stay-overs. Forty-five volunteers served with 320 volunteer slots to fill.
Last season, there were zero deaths due to the cold and three confirmed saves. Martin gave an example of a man saved from the cold last year.
"There was one guy, he was found about two blocks away face down in the snow," Martin noted. "He couldn't get up. He had physical issues that once he got down, he couldn't get up.
"Somebody found him and knew that we were open and brought him in," he continued. "We got him some hot coffee and some blankets and got him wrapped up. But he was pretty frosty when he came in."
He added among the guests at the shelter, they see many married couples and families who have homes but need more money to heat them. Some families arrive in Sedalia for a job but can't afford housing and often live with their children in their cars. When the weather turns bitterly cold, they seek out the shelter to weather the storm.
"We've had a lot of husbands and wives come in that are young couples that are struggling," he explained. "It's the moments like when the young family came in with two little kids a couple of years back. It's one of my head-to-the-heart kind of stories."
He added the family had a 6-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old boy. When they arrived at the shelter, they looked like they had "walked in out of the tundra." The shelter housed them in a couple of rooms in the back where they could all rest together.
He added their skin was "cherry red" from the cold, and the father had ice crystals on his eyebrows and beard.
"They're a case where they had a house (without utilities) and couldn't survive anymore," Martin said. "They showed up about 9:30 or 10 o'clock at night.
"We jumped into action and got some hot soup for them, some hot cocoa for the little ones, and coffee for the mom and dad," he continued. "And we got them bedded down, and for two days, they literally slept for two days."
He added that they only woke up to eat due to exhaustion and then laid back down. Martin noted some of the guests who have stayed at the shelter have slept in tool sheds to keep warm, and some have sought shelter in cardboard boxes as a windbreak. He added they are seeing more and more people showing up who have jobs but can't afford housing.
"Just because they are staying in the shelter doesn't mean they don't have a job," he noted. "They may be homeless, but they just can't afford a house. Sometimes these are families sleeping in little four-door cars."
Those interested in volunteering at the Sedalia Warming Shelter may email sedaliawarmingshelter@gmail.com. A background check is required to become a volunteer.
Faith Bemiss-McKinney can be reached at 660-530-0289.
