I wish was it was colder tonight.

Yeah, you read that right.
It's mid 30s, foggy, and it might rain before the night is over. Even so, for many in Springfield, it would be better if the temperature was forecast to be below freezing. The criteria for opening the cold weather shelters is something like the overnight forecast has to be below freezing for four hours. Tonight will be cold and wet; just not cold enough for the shelters to be open.

Understand that I am very grateful for the local churches that step up to help our unsheltered friends. I just feel for those that are going to be wet and cold tonight. The city really needs to look into a cold weather shelter that serves more as an all-weather shelter for men, women, youths, and families.

The churches that give their space, the merchants that provide cots and laundry service, the volunteers that prepare, staff, recruit, and clean -- all are heroes to the people that need the shelter. The City of Springfield does provide transportation to and from the shelters. I'm not certain they do much else for the unsheltered in the city. 

The pandemic has made it harder for people to get off of the street. In fact, the number of homeless in the city has greatly increased since last winter. We need to do better. 
Where ever you are, please consider making a donation of money, product or time to a local shelter or agency/organization that provides for the poor of your community. Blankets, coats, hats, gloves, socks, hot hands, or just cash gifts are great. Personal service and getting to interact with people has some pretty great rewards, as well. 

After spending the night in the shelter, there were several guys that made it a point to thanks the two of us that had spent the night with them. I'm not talking about the thanks from nearly everyone as they are leaving. These guys came up to me specifically to say thank you.

I'm thinking about them tonight and hoping that they are able to find a place to stay dry and warm.

John