BISMARCK, N.D. (KXNET) — The homeless population now has a warm place to stay at all hours of the day to get out of the cold weather in the capitol city.
Thanks to the Missouri Slope Area-wide United Way’s Giving Tuesday campaign, the organization has raised enough money to reopen its doors 24/7.
Dan is currently homeless and is working to get his life back on track. With North Dakota’s winter in full swing being outside for even an hour is extremely dangerous.
“There’s debris and cars you have to pay attention to what’s going on around you and if a car can’t stop it’ll slide right into you,” said Dan.
MSA United Way was asked to temporarily shelter the homeless population back in 2017.
However, the organization realized there was a desperate need for permanent shelter.
“This is a life or death situation. We actually had, in the summertime, had a homeless individual die because of the extreme heat after we weren’t able to be open 24/7,” said Jena Gullo, executive director of MSA United Way.
And now the extreme cold is threatening the lives of the homeless again. But the organization says they are so thankful to be able to reopen their doors.
“It’s going to be thirty below with wind chill this weekend and so we are very very grateful for the community’s help to prioritize this important and immediate need,” said Gullo.
Plus MSA United Way is almost finished with a new center aimed at helping the homeless rise above poverty.
“Since United Way typically focuses on the root causes of poverty and homelessness and different issues in our community, we also built a sender for opportunity,” said Gullo. “So we are going to have multiple services available at our center from experts in their field. So when people need domestic violence counseling or training to prevent that cycle from continuing the abused adult resource center is willing to have office hours here.”
Dan says he never expected to experience homelessness.
“I look at the homeless in a different way,” said Dan. “You know 10, 15 years ago I’d drive by, see someone homeless, and not realize what some of them are going through but being there, it’s a whole new perspective.”
United Way still needs help keeping its day and overnight shelter open. The organization is encouraging donations to help keep the homeless population safe.
To donate click here.