Before It’s News – by Monica Davis
Everyone’s talking about how cold it is. Record wind chills and temperatures give the weather folk on the TV something else to jaw jack about.
But, what is happening to the poor–whose old houses and drafty windows make heating old houses in this weather impossible. Or, where did the homeless go to escape the dangerous weather? If it’s cold enough to freeze flowing water in a water fountain, what does that kind of cold do to human skin?
Baltimore homeless shelters are at capacity. Local mediaare reporting that
The 275-bed homeless shelter at 620 The Fallsway was expanded by 60 beds and filled to capacity Monday night. The city opened a cold weather shelter, which Scott said had about 65 people in it Monday night. MOREHERE
In Atlanta, they fear people might be dying in the streets.
Paul Ballew, a case manager for the massive facility at Peachtree and Pine streets, said he might get 700 people on a typical winter’s night. This week, he is expecting more than 1,000 a night.
“People are being turned away from other cold- weather shelters, because they are already full,” Ballew said. “Our biggest fear is people dying on the streets.”