Jackson’s homeless shelters opened additional beds ahead of a potentially devastating ice storm to protect vulnerable residents from the freeze.
But advocates say it would not be enough to serve the city’s entire unhoused population – some of whom will weather the storm outside in tents, tarps and sleeping bags.
It’s not just homeless people in open-air encampments who will be left in the cold: Jacksonians with poorly insulated homes — as is common across the Southeast — may also need to seek refuge, further straining shelter capacity across the city. In other parts of Mississippi, churches and social services groups started opening shelters Friday as a winter storm with snow, freezing rain and sleet started moving across parts of the state Saturday.
Jackson’s roughly 250 shelter beds, operated by Stewpot Community Services, Shower Power, Gateway Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army, will accommodate the homeless or unstably housed during the coming week’s freezing temperatures, according to Melvin Stamps, the planning director for the Central Mississippi Continuum of Care.
But the number of available beds is in flux, with advocates reporting that two of the year-round centers, the men’s shelter at Gateway Rescue Mission and the adult shelter at Salvation Army, are full or near capacity. The Salvation Army typically charges a boarding fee, but it waives that cost during inclement weather…