FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Some of the most vulnerable on this frigid weekend in South Florida are those without a place to shelter from the cold, but advocates and organizations are helping get the word out about an imminent, potentially record-breaking cold snap.
On Friday night, Narciso Munoz, the president of Hermanos de la Calle, and his team of volunteers walked the streets of downtown Miami, finding homeless residents to offer their assistance in finding a warm place to stay for the weekend.
“We are doing outreach and basically, we are offering a place to sleep because the cold is coming and we don’t want anyone to be on the streets,” said Munoz.
With South Florida’s temperatures about to plummet, Munoz and his organization are doing their part to make sure everyone can stay indoors.
Sam Gil, the senior vice president for Camillus House, is also stepping up to protect the most vulnerable residents from the cold.
“We’re hopeful that many of them will take the invitation to come in, get dropped off here, walk in. The doors are open to help them and we’re here and ready to do that,” said Gil.
Earlier in the day, shelters in Broward and Miami-Dade counties were hard at work trying to make room in order to get as many people in as they can before those temperatures start to drop to a dangerous level.
“Even though you got knocked down, doesn’t mean you can’t get back up,” said William Home with New Hope Corps.
But it’s even harder to do that while sleeping in freezing temperatures, homeless outreach workers said, and this weekend is promising to be brutal.
“Quite candidly, it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation. We have very dangerous temperatures coming to our community,” said Ron Book with the Homeless Trust in Miami-Dade County.
For those who work with the homeless, it’s all about getting people inside.
In Miami, 7News cameras captured Home signing people up to do just that.
“I myself went through the shelter system when I was 2 years old, 6 years old, and then again when I was 9,” he said. “People don’t understand that these are just people like we are.”
And in both Broward and Miami-Dade, those with nowhere to go will be especially vulnerable.
“As the temperatures continue to go down, people begin to realize, ‘Hey, this is getting too cold for me,'” said Patrice Paldino with the Broward County Housing Division.
Space and shelters in both counties is limited, but staffers are trying to make as much room as possible.
“So we bring in extra cots so that we can bring in additional people over the regular capacity of the shelters, to bring in as many people as we can off the streets,” said Paldino. “We provide blankets, hats, scarves. Today we’ll also be providing some hygiene kits so that people are prepared.”
“We are continuing to work this morning, this afternoon and into the weekend to make as much capacity as we can, so that no one that wants to get off the streets is on the streets,” said Book.
Book said Florida Power & Light is donating hats, gloves and other items for them to hand out there for people who may not be able to get to a shelter.
At the Salvation Army, they’re filling up their large rooms with as many cots as they can fit.
“We’re gonna try to put as – probably 70, maybe a little bit more tonight and we actually started on Monday,” said Lilly Gallardo, the Salvation Army’s director of program services.
Jim, an individual who suffers from cancer and didn’t want to show his face, is staying at the Salvation Army’s shelter. He said he knows of many others who will also be staying there to avoid the cold.
“And they’ll put five or six bunks up the hallway to try to supply their needs. They let as many as they can come in,” he said.
Barbara Beckmann, who is also staying at the shelter, told 7News she’s glad the shelter is doing everything to fit as many people inside but worries for those who won’t be able to stay.
“Well, they’re trying to accommodate them as best they can,” she said.
One man who had his belongings placed on the grass along the road nearby said he plans to stay outside and believes he’ll do just fine despite the harsh weather.
Officials stressed the best way for residents to help shelters support the most vulnerable is to make donations of essential supplies and volunteering.
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