ROANOKE - Ronceverte Powell has been homeless for four months now and says it's been tough dealing with this summer's head wave.
"It's terrible. What are we supposed to do. It's not like we have a pond down the street we can go jump in to cool off,” said Powell.
He's just one of the hundreds of people that seek shelter at the Roanoke Rescue Mission every night.
"Things are a little busy this year. Our numbers are up considerably from last year,” said Programs Director, Kim Gembala.
She says Sunday night they had 347 people sleep there. 57 of those were children, which is up about thirty percent from this time last year. She says these numbers are similar to what they saw in January during the big snow storm.
Despite such high numbers of people staying here, the Rescue Mission doesn't turn people away. In facts, they've had so many people recently that some have had to sleep on the floor.
"I really don't have any other options. That's why I'm here,” said Lilian Gates.
Gates has been staying at the shelter with her seven-month-old son Marquez since June. She says she is thankful to the Mission for taking them in.
"It keeps us out of the sun instead of just walking around all day and then trying to find a place to sleep at nighttime,” said Gates.
Cooking meals, doing laundry, and the air conditioning costs a lot of money. Gembala says they spent about $17,000 on their electricity bill for the month of June alone.
She says they are looking for donations everyday, so they can help people like Lillian and Marquez stay out of the heat.
To make a donation, contact the Roanoke Rescue Mission at 540.343.7227
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