As dangerous winter weather continues to strike across Mississippi, one nonprofit is working to get those without a home in the city of Jackson inside a sheltered place.
Individuals seeking shelter from the cold temperatures and storms will be able to receive aid and a place to sleep at Shepard’s Gym near Jim Hill High School.
Teresa Renkenberger with Shower Power explained that the mobile shower unit organization worked with Jackson officials, the Red Cross of Central Mississippi, and the People’s Advocacy Institute to open the location to those in need while the freezing weather continues.
“They have given us permission to use the gym all week and our team has been working very hard to ensure we will have everything needed for the shelter,” Renkenberger explained. “There will be three meals a day served. We’ve got cots coming in, blankets, pillows, lots of snacks, water, everything you could think of that would be needed.”
Renkenberger continued, saying that her team will be traveling throughout Jackson all day to pick up individuals wanting to go to the shelter, as Mississippi’s capital city currently has the state’s largest homeless population.
“We will go and search for people like we did last year. There will be a caravan of us and we will all go in different directions and just circle around the city,” Renkenberger stated. “We have had such an outpouring from the community, it’s unbelievable.”
Renkenberger added that although the gym will be open until Sunday, Jan. 21, additional shelters will also be available to those in need in Jackson and across the state.
“There are other shelters that are going to be open,” Renkenberger said. “We may be able to fit a little over a hundred, but the number is higher than that that need shelter.”
Click here to see the full list of warming shelters available in Mississippi this week.
