AUSTIN, Texas — This week's drop in temperature is affecting all of us, but for our area's homeless population, this weather can be dangerous.
Nonprofit leaders in Austin have been making sure no one is left out in the cold without help.
Along Interstate 35 and East Cesar Chavez is a busy area near Downtown Austin. It's also where you may find people experiencing homelessness looking for a helping hand.
"We do food, coffee, clothes, mental health care, physical health care, substance abuse care, mail. All the different things," said Mark Hilbelink, executive director for the Sunrise Navigation Center.
According to Hilbelink, the center is the largest provider of homelessness services in Travis County. He said when temperatures drop so dramatically, it's hard on the unhoused community.
"When you're outside and especially when the temperature drops so quickly, I think it's really hard on people experiencing homelessness because a lot of times they're operating without warning," Hilbelink said.
During the day, those in need can visit any of Austin's warming centers.
"Any of our City of Austin locations, the recreation centers, libraries, neighborhood and community centers. If they're open, anyone is welcome to go inside and find a place indoors to stay warm," said Marlon Haygood, the Emergency Plans Officer for Austin Public Health.
However, when it comes to overnight stays, those shelters have specific criteria that must be met before they open.
"That threshold is going to be 32 degrees Fahrenheit if it's dry and fair weather, 35 degrees if it's wet ... If there's any precipitation, or if a wind chill brings the temperature below 32 degrees Fahrenheit," Haygood said.
Austin also has a new text system that will alert unhoused residents with phones of any impending weather threats or shelter updates.
"I think it's a good step. I think the challenge is always going to be that like a lot of folks who are on the street there, their numbers change frequently and so it's difficult to get messages to them," Hilbelink said.
He said for now, his team is working hard to pass out coats and blankets to keep people safe. But the need won't go away.
"Because the cold snap hit so much earlier this year, we were a little bit unprepared to having all that stuff that we would normally build up on between October and December, right away in October," Hilbelink said.
If you would like to support Sunrise Navigation Center's mission, visit the group's website.