December in Gainesville poses a struggle to civilians who aren’t able to find shelter from the cold.
Many look to Grace Marketplace, a low-barrier homeless shelter, to provide a roof over their head, said Travis Middleton, the Grace director of community engagement.
But with temperatures dropping below 45 degrees, the shelter is struggling to help people find warm clothing in the cold, Middleton said.
Grace hands out 20 to 30 jackets on any given day, Middleton said. However, the number increases to anywhere from 50 to 80 jackets during the activation of the Cold Night Shelter Program, a citywide program that occurs when the temperature drops below 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
Jackets are needed most during the program, especially now, when supplies are scarce, Middleton said. Items can be dropped off at 3055 NE 28th Drive.
On Friday, Grace had 40 jackets on hand, but it is expecting to run out within days, Middleton said. The shelter typically receives five jackets a day, but that isn’t enough to keep up with the demand during Cold Night Shelter temperatures.
“We’re always giving it out, as soon as it comes in,” Middleton said. “Either we have the time for our volunteers to sort it out and hang it up, or it literally goes right back out the door.”
The shelter is looking for donations because it doesn’t receive funding for clothing, Middleton said. Any adult-sized jackets and other winter garments will be accepted.
More people are homeless and in need of clothing than initially meets the eye, Middleton said.
“We had a lady come in the other day, and she didn’t even look like she was homeless,” Middleton said. “However, she was kicked out and had no place to go. So really there is no visual perception of homelessness.”
Grace Marketplace doesn’t do background checks and residents do not have to be sober, as long as they are not disruptive or in possession, Middleton said. Outside of free clothing, Grace offers free legal services, a wound care clinic, a boutique, a computer lab and other resources, Middleton said.
People often take things like having a nice job and residing in a nice neighborhood for granted, said Annie Bares Thomas, a teacher and president of the Humanist Society of Gainesville. Helping those in need allow people to feel connected to those in their community.
“Working with people who don’t have those things just reminds me how fortunate I am,” Thomas said. “And how it’s really my responsibility as a human being to help those who don’t have what I have.”
Contact Samuel Schaffer at sschaffer@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @sa5mschaffer.
Russ Dye, 54, sits near his tent outside Grace Marketplace on Monday in four layers of clothes to shelter him from the cold. Dye said about 25 people at the shelter still need blankets and coats to bear the drop in temperatures.
