Meet John. He is our first homeless guest at the 2023 warming station at The Family Center. John has been homeless for two years. He had a place to live a few years ago but due to the pandemic he could not hold on to it. He has family in Columbia, but he is not able to stay with them. John is a Veteran but does not receive any benefits although he is currently working with Operation Stand Down for help with discharge papers and housing. John currently lives on the streets of Columbia, staying at the library when it is cold until the doors close at 8:00 and then various places for the night. We found John hunkered down in the glass bus stop on High Street and brought him to The Family Center to get warm. John enjoyed 4 bowls of potato soup, six tangerines and an hour-long shower. He also played a few rounds of dominoes with our volunteers and watched a movie. In the morning, John changed into some clean jeans and a sweatshirt that fit over his cast (an injury that happened when he fell a few weeks ago) and pair of gloves and knitted hat to keep him warm. He ate some breakfast and packed more tangerines in his backpack for the road. We threw away his clothing he came in with as they were so tattered and torn, they were not worth washing then watched him head back down to the library or wherever he was headed for the day.
John had a night where he was warm, safe and cared for thanks to a group of wonderful volunteers who took time out of their busy schedule to help someone in need. These volunteers stayed awake so he could rest. While John was the only guest for the night, we know there are more who will eventually find their way to us as the weather turns colder. We will need help tending to them as we tended to John.
We hope to have every cold night covered from now until March 1st, but we still need people willing to help folks like John. It doesn’t take much to get involved; just a crockpot full of soup, some kindness and willingness to stay awake so they can rest. You don’t even have to know how to play dominos!
Please consider volunteering the next time the temperature drops. These folks need us, they need a warm safe place to rest, they need you!
Please call 9313883840 if you, your church, your civic group, your family, or your friends want to help. People like John need us, lets show them the best of Maury!
Dawn
This is Maury 