Officials announced Thursday that the cold weather station recently established at the Gastonia Farmers Market will be moved to First United Methodist Church of Gastonia for the foreseeable future.
As temperatures dropped in recent weeks, Gaston organizations including the church, Gateway Gaston, HealthNet Gaston, the United Way of Gaston County, and both the city and county came together to create a warming station at the Gastonia Farmers Market for homeless people.
First United Methodist Church hosted the shelter overnight once this year when the farmers market was needed for an event. In the coming months, they will continue working with other organizations to provide visitors with food, warmth and a place to sleep.
While the shelter provided a warm place to sit, officials said earlier this month that city fire codes prevented them from offering cots to visitors.
At the church, visitors will have a cot to sleep on starting at 8 p.m. on nights when the temperature is expected to dip below 32 degrees.