Last summer brought the hottest temperatures on record — then came this summer. Local volunteers are trying to help provide drinking water that homeless individuals need to survive in the dangerous heat.
This week’s temperatures are expected to hit triple digits multiple days, but there are differing perspectives on the best ways for the community to help the homeless when temperatures rise.
Of course, there’s the direct approach.
This year’s heat waves sparked a Wichita resident, Maggie Gilmore, to reunite a Facebook group that began last summer, dedicated to distributing coolers with water bottles all around Wichita. The volunteers plan the best spots for coolers — areas where homeless individuals are, bus stops and other unsheltered places.
“If I’m able to put a cooler in the same spot like three times within a week, then maybe someone will make a habit of checking there and know that there’s going to be water there at least some of the time. So that’s kind of the best we could hope for,” Gilmore said.