HARTFORD – Across the state, people are hunkering down in this very cold weather, with temperatures as low as we have seen them this winter.
At South Park Inn, an emergency homeless shelter in Hartford, there are more people dropping in for the night than usual.
“We have had a few people pop in just to get out of the cold for a little while,” said Wilburn Mathis, a second-shift supervisor at the shelter. “It’s cold as ever so we’ll give them a sandwich, something to drink, a little warm up then send them down to the warming center.”
Mathis said he loves that his job allows him to give back to his community. Because of the influx of people seeking shelter in the cold weather, Mathis said the shelter would benefit from donations such as food, blankets, socks and hand warmers. The shelter is working with warming centers throughout Connecticut to make sure everyone has a warm place to rest.
And, as people across the state deal with this below-freezing weather, some are met with bad luck on the roads.
“A lot of people are getting stuck,” said Jordan Grzybowski, a rescue technician at Triple AAA. “I’ve seen six-month old batteries that haven’t started and six year old batteries that haven’t started.”