Angela Dreher handed the reins to the people she serves at As One Ministries. The director of the daytime shelter gives homeless people a place to eat, rest and stay warm. She runs an orderly operation. But as snow began to fall Wednesday, Dreher prepared a big pot of soup, lined up sandwich fixings then went home to be with her family.
“I had to decide whether to close or keep open,” she said Thursday. “It’s all well. They know how to call if they need me.”
About 16 men and women, including a pregnant woman, were allowed to stay overnight. Typically, people at As One Ministries leave in the evenings. Some sleep in tents and others go to the Salvation Army in Gastonia to spend the night. Dreher said she didn’t want to send people out into the snow. So she opened up the pantry, showed some of her regulars where the supplies and mats were and left it in their hands.
“They’re letting people come in as they want,” she said.
Some still refused the opportunity, Dreher said. As she was leaving Wednesday night, Dreher said some of her clients headed back to their campsites. She urged them to stay. “I told them not to but you can’t make adults do what they don’t want to do,” she said. “I don’t think they realized the snow was going to be as deep as it was.”
In preparation for the storm, the ministry handed out coats and hats. They came up a little short for shoes and boots, but they outfitted as many people as they could, Dreher said. None of Dreher’s employees made it to work Thursday, so the clients continued to hold down the fort.
Salvation Army shelter employees also had trouble making it in, according to Capt. Mark Hunter. One woman worked Wednesday and stayed overnight.
Like As One, Salvation Army stayed open around the clock rather than closing during the day. By late Thursday morning, Hunter was working to get some relief for the sole worker at the shelter.
In addition to the 62 people who stay at the shelter each night, the Salvation Army had seen about 25 people come to the cold weather shelter since the storm started.
Hunter said he anticipated seeing more people come in, but he speculated that some turned to As One and emergency shelters at area churches.
Neither Dreher nor Hunter could say when shelter operations will get back to a regular schedule.
You can reach Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.