Homeless Shelters Prepare For Cold Spell

The Durham Rescue Mission is launching Operation Warm Shelter. Volunteers are teaming up with shelter residents to pass out brochures.

Lots of homeless folks don't have access to TV or radio weather forecasts. The fliers are designed to get the word out. They include a plea for people to come off the streets and into the shelter for the night.

Robert Tart, Director of the Durham Rescue Mission, says the organization wants to keep people from dying on the streets. Tart has heard of 14 people who have died as a result of the cold weather in the mid-west. He doesn't want the same thing to happen in Durham.

The Mission's Ernie Mills is afraid some homeless people won't know the cold weather is coming until it's too late.

During Operation Warm Shelter, people can get a warm place to sleep, dry clothing, and free meals.

The program will be in place throughout the cold spell and can accommodate 286 people. andKerrie Hudzinski