Cold Temps Challenge Homeless Shelters

Temperatures in the Wausau area dropped to 25 below zero and colder this morning, severely affecting those people without homes to go to.

This is the kind of cold that burns your nostrils and hurts your eyes. It’s the kind of cold that shuts down schools and even retail business. For the homeless on the streets of Wausau, it can be deadly.

George Wood said even a short walk chilled him: “By the time I walked two blocks I had ice in my mustache, eyelashes.” Wood is a volunteer at the Catholic Charities shelter, which takes care of about 20 homeless people every night.

“We had to have [a shelter] like this, otherwise we’d be having a lot of homeless people deceased. I go up under the bridges and the parks and things like that,” Wood said. “Sometimes I’ll take hats and gloves, hand warmers, toe warmers.”

26-year-old Kevin Cochran came here from Florida, and ended up on the street. He is not used to 25 below zero.

Cochran: “If we didn’t have places like this, I’m pretty sure that most people would just freeze outside to death, under the bridges and everything. So, it’s pretty important.”

WPR: “What puts you in a position where you have to use a shelter like this?”

Cochran: “Well. I can’t find any work. Nobody wants to give anybody any interviews or chances.”

WPR: “How long have you been looking?”

Cochran: “About five months now.”

Harry, in his eighties, says he’s too embarrassed about his situation to let us use his last name. “It would be wonderful if all of the churches opened their doors to the homeless who are freezing outside. You know, they could do that, and other public buildings too,” he said. “They should open their doors up to them, so they don’t freeze to death.”

At 11 a.m., Harry and Kevin are back on the frozen streets, waiting for the bus that takes them across town to the Salvation Army shelter, while the volunteers at Catholic Charities get ready for the next night shift.