As the temperature in Gainesville dropped below freezing in January, the demand for a warm place to stay rose. To address the growing need, the City of Gainesville launched its Cold Night Shelter program.
The program, which was active for most of January, is instituted during severe weather conditions, like when temperatures drop below 45 degrees. St. Francis House and GRACE Marketplace, both partaking in the program, offer shelter services to those in need during cold conditions.
Cold shelter check-in is available from 7 to 9 p.m. at St. Francis house and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m at GRACE Marketplace.
Brenda Welcome, a 64-year-old Gainesville resident, said she had a negative experience with St. Francis House. Welcome said she tried to use the Cold Night Shelter program Jan. 13, arriving around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. but was turned away.
“The lady came out the door and said, ‘You can't be here,’” she said. “I'm like, ‘Are you serious? I'm 64, [and] I'm disabled. Where am I supposed to go?’”
Welcome said when she tried to plead her case to the woman, the woman replied with, “I don't care.” She then threw a blanket at Welcome, which triggered a temporary nervous breakdown, Welcome said.
“They had three openings,” Welcome said, “so I was hoping that they would let me [in] and give me shelter, but they didn't. They called the police.”
Welcome spent the next five days in jail, she said.
However, Shirley Williams, a 67-year-old Gainesville resident, said her experience at St. Francis House was quite different. She stayed at St. Francis for a week and loved the cleanliness, people, food and security.
The cold night shelter curfew at St. Francis House is 9 p.m. with no exceptions, she said.
“I like the curfew time they have,” Williams said. “It gives you… [the] responsibility of self-control.”
Williams said everyone who stays at St. Francis is also required to undergo a police screening and background check. She said the layer of security provides her with a sense of safety she previously lacked. Before arriving at St. Francis House, Williams spent five months at GRACE Marketplace, which she said was a terrible experience.
To Williams, GRACE felt like an unsafe environment. She said it was “filthy.”
“You would be scared to close your eyes sometimes,” she said. “People from the outside can come in and walk around, see what they want to steal and take your stuff while you sleep. That’s happened to me.”
Shaheem Busch, a 19-year-old Gainesville resident, said GRACE fails to provide people with safety and stability.
“People here, they will go through your sh*t,” he said. “And once you lose your sh*t, it'll be so much chaos that [the staff] will take your sh*t.”
Busch said he violated one of the rules, so he is banned from the GRACE campus until June 20. As a consequence, he said he’s also excluded from using the cold night shelter. Busch didn’t specify which of the shelter’s rules he broke.
Craig, a 53-year-old Gainesville resident who requested to be identified by his first name because he feared retribution from GRACE, has been using the cold night program at the shelter. He’s critical of how it’s run.
“Some of the staff are here to help us, and you actually see that, but some of the staff are just here just to bully us,” he said.
Walker said the shelter serves a lot of bread, which he can't eat due to his diabetes. He also pointed out they serve food like french fries that aggravates arthritis, which is a concern because many people at the shelter suffer from the condition. He mentioned the portion sizes are also very small.
“They feed us like we’re in elementary school, and everybody here is an adult,” he said.
Other issues he had with the cold night shelter include cold showers and being forced to leave GRACE once the Cold Night Shelter program ends at 7 a.m.
Darrell Moore, a 50-year-old Gainesville resident, said he thinks the cold night shelters are great, though he agrees the program could be improved.
“[The Cold Night Shelter program] is an awesome thing because whenever it’s cold like this, it’s perfect,” Moore said. “The one thing that’s bad is that early in the morning they kick everyone out.”
Moore said he appreciates GRACE, but the most pervasive issue is the favoritism shown to individuals who have been there longer.
John Thomas, the interim chief executive officer at GRACE Marketplace, said not much changes at GRACE when the Cold Night Shelter program is activated besides the shelter serving above capacity. On any given cold shelter night, GRACE is ready to take in 75 extra people, Thomas said.
To prepare, GRACE designates an area for the cold shelters, while the dorms, reserved for housed individuals, remain separate. Bunk beds are set up in the cold shelters, and they also have overflow rooms to further accommodate the influx of people coming in.
“We try to make sure everyone has a blanket to sleep under and a pillow to put their head on,” Thomas said.
Although spots are open on a first come, first serve basis, the shelter doesn’t typically end up having to turn people away, Thomas said. GRACE also doesn’t exclude who can and can’t come in.
“Especially in cases of extreme weather like we’re having now, turning people away is not something that we’re interested in doing,” Thomas said. “We just find space for people.”
The cold shelter program will remain active until Jan. 28.
Contact Annie Wang at awang@alligator.org. Follow her on X @wynwg.
Annie Wang is a metro general assignment reporter and a second-year journalism major. She has previously worked on the university desk as the university administration reporter. She enjoys reading and writing book reviews in her spare time.
