Warm, fuzzy blankets at the Roanoke Rescue Mission keep people like Carol Spisak safe at night.
When it comes to the freezing temperatures, “You walk out there and are like 'oh my gosh, what happened,’” Spisak said.
On Friday morning, the Rescue Mission was still keeping her warm as she passed the time with a word puzzle. It’s unusual at the shelter to see those like Spisak during the day.
"So today with the bitter cold, we gave women the option to be able to stay here in the shelter during the day. We have some women who aren't working during the day who normally would be out looking for work or looking for housing,” said Lee Clark with the Rescue Mission.
If she wasn’t at the Rescue Mission staying warm, Spisak said, “[I would] probably be at the library or on the street. I usually go to the library when it's nice out, but this cold weather hurts me,” she said.
Over at RAM House shelter in the city, the sign-in sheets show double the names than usual. The homeless go there to stay warm, some reading a good book.
It was so cold on Friday morning, Tim Williams, RAM House shelter manager, said they opened up at 7 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. to get people inside to stay warm.
For both shelters, they do what they can to help.
"We need more gloves and hats. Gloves, hats and scarfs,” Williams said.
Because winter will be here for a while and as the sign-in sheets get longer, more will need that warmth just to get through the day.
The women’s shelter at the Roanoke Rescue Mission was open but Clark said they didn’t have enough staff to keep the men’s shelter open during the day. He said it’s only during extreme weather that the shelters are open to the homeless during the daytime.
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