LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Bitter cold headed to Kentuckiana can be deadly to anyone without shelter.
Groups who help those experiencing homelessness are working overtime to prepare for the incoming winter storm, wanting to get as many people into shelter as they can for as long as they can.
"Keeping people alive is our biggest concern," Donny Greene, co-founder of Feed Louisville, said. "The weather is going to be brutal and deadly."
The nonprofit is working to get about 100 emergency hotel rooms booked from Thursday through Sunday night, which will not be cheap.
"Probably about $60,000 for the timeframe we're talking about with food and that kind of thing," said Greene.
Feed Louisville is taking donations. No matter how much people can give, Greene said it all helps.
"A $5 donation can literally save someone's life. It's that simple," he said.
Wednesday, Wayside Christian Mission took time to recognize National Homeless Persons Memorial Day as it also prepares for the weather ahead.
"We're very concerned, and it's definitely life-threatening weather on the way," said Nina Moseley, COO of Wayside Christian Mission.
Moseley hopes the memorial event will make people aware of the difficulty unsheltered people will face this weekend. She called the day "an important reminder to celebrate those we've lost" while also raising awareness about the dangers of homelessness.
"We want to let people think about folks that are staying out and possibly in danger of freezing to death and try to have an effort to get folks inside and make sure they stay well," she said.
The annual event, which began Dec. 21, 1988, commemorates those those struggling with homelessness who lost their lives without shelter, with the goal of highlighting "the struggles of poverty and homelessness within our society, bringing awareness to the issue and how it can affect people from all walks of life."
Moseley believes Metro Government is working to clear camps, trying to get more people in shelters before the winter storm hits.
"A lot of our folks just don't realize it," she said. "They don't realize that they actually can freeze to death, so it's important to look out for those folks and try to make sure that we make inside accommodations available for them."
Making accommodations for people who Greene said appreciate all the help they get in these emergency situations.
"To stay warm and to stay alive for another few days to try to figure things out, but also that they've been seen and that people know what their situation is and that folks are out here actively trying to lend assistance where we can," he said.
Greene said Feed Louisville also needs winter supplies such as coats, hats, socks, gloves, tents, sleeping bags, tarps, Hot Hands, flashlights, batteries and portable phone chargers. For information about how to to send money or supplies to the nonprofit, click here.
If you see an unsheltered person during dangerous weather this weekend, Moseley said people can call Wayside at (502) 584-3711 and they will try to intervene and bring that person in.
According to the nonprofit, there are an estimated 150 million people in the world without access to adequate housing, water and sanitation services. In the U.S., an estimated 552,830 people are homeless. In Louisville, data from 2021 showed 10,640 people were homeless — 55% in a shelter, 10% inside for extreme weather and 35% on the streets or elsewhere.
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