'It's A Blessing' : Salvation Army Provides Shelter For People In Need This Winter

When the temperature drops, people with nowhere to go feel the impact.

“People can pass from freezing to death,” Shawn Burns said. 

Burns says he knows what being out in the cold is like. 

“I didn’t have no place to go, I ran low on money paying bills,” he said.

Until he came to the Salvation Army's Center for Hope. 

“Being out in this cold brings your body heat down, but Salvation Army will open those doors for you,” he said. 

Burns says the Salvation Army has been a warm place to lay his head for the past three months.

“I sleep upstairs, I got my own bed,” he said. 

And somewhere to call home while he gets back on his feet.

“I’m going when I get paid on the first…I’m going home,” said Burns. 

Major Carlyle Gargis with the Salvation Army said year after year, they've provided shelter to those in need without hesitation.

“We want to be able to provide a place for them that’s safe and warm and to protect them from the elements outside,” he said. 

Gargis said whenever there's inclement weather in the area, they see more people seeking shelter. He said the Salvation Army provides people with blankets, a hot shower and a bed to escape the bitter cold temperatures. 

“We’re always watching the weather here at the Salvation Army, we’re always looking down range,” he said. 

And while Gargis said they are just doing what they always do…

“We love the people that we get to take care of, and we don’t want them to be out,” he said. 

Burns says that a simple act of kindness and support means more than they know.

“It is a blessing because of God…God’s the one that brought them here,” he said.