WEST CITY, IL (WSIL) � With these dangerous temperatures, volunteers from Take Action Today want to make sure you’re safe.
“Don't be ashamed to ask for help,� said Paul Tart, Community Mental Health and Substance use liaison program Director for Take Action Today.
So when the cold weather sets in, like it has in our area which is seeing low wind chills in the negatives, not having a warm place to be during that time can be dangerous.
“You're not going to be able to get the help unless you say, I need help,� said Tart. “You reach out, and that's why we're here. That's why we're here.�
Tart says the shelter started operating 24 hours Sunday Morning.
“Currently, we have 14 physical beds,� Tart noted. “We do have overflow capacity. Um, we could house the worst-case scenario, 32 or 34.�
And Tart isn't speaking just as someone who wants to help, but he’s also speaking from experience.
"I've slept under bridges, I've been homeless,� Tart noted. “It's scary to reach out for help. Our pride as humans, especially as a man, our pride keeps us from being able to say, I need help. And the fact is, you're not going to be able to get the help unless you say, I need help.�
One of those who stepped up and asked for help was Jacob Green. He's from McLeansboro and was working in the coal mines in Hamilton County until he was laid off. He says that other circumstances led him to be homeless and it all happened very quickly.
“Every night since the first night we've been able to come in and sleep and that helps even, like, it helped my mindset so much not being outside, not being in the cold,� Green said.
Green stayed at a hotel for a while but with no job, but that quickly became a luxury he couldn't afford. So he started sleeping in his car, but that too turned out to be, not the best outcome.
“Well it's [his car] sitting out there, like, it, it kind of runs, but the thermostats are out of it so it gets hot fast,� said Green.
However, it was a chance visit to a local gas station to get warm when Jesse and his partner learned about the warming center.
“The lady at the counter told us across the road here, there was the warming center,� mentioned Green. “And so we came over here one night, got a meal and we'd been here ever since.�
Jesse is still looking for work but in the meantime, he says he's doing what he can to pay the generosity forward by volunteering at the shelter.
“They've helped us so much,� said Green. “It just feels the way I was raised. If someone helps you, you help them. So I do everything I can to kind of pay back the help they've given us.
Since coming to the shelter, Tart says Jesse and his partner have been a blessing to the warming center.
“Not only have they utilized it for what it was intended for, but they're both working. And when they're not working, they're both volunteering.�
