Feb. 11, 2025
BY JOHN BAILEY
Frostbite is the freezing of skin and the body tissue, while hypothermia is a dangerously low body temperature, according to the National Weather Service.
For the last few weeks, these have been significant dangers to all the unsheltered homeless living in Catawba County.
Several local nonprofits have been at the forefront of providing warming stations and transportation for those seeking a safe place to stay warm when temperatures fall to or below freezing.
“We saw there was a need, and those we were already serving with meals would ask us if there was anywhere they could go to get out of the cold,” The Kindness Project Hickory President Ashley Dellinger said. “There are some older folks who don’t have the technology to go online and get some of this information. It can be too far to walk, sometimes miles, so we decided we needed to step in and help.”
The Kindness Project volunteers started by taking their clients to the First United Methodist Church of Newton’s emergency shelter, and then as it started to fill up, to The Salvation Army’s Shelter of Hope in Hickory.
They’ve also helped with transportation to and from Strong Live Ministries in Conover when it was used as an overflow warming station.
On a recent Sunday, they picked up an older man, a veteran, at one of the encampments and took him to a warming station. The staff at the site saw how badly his feet looked and took him to the hospital where they learned he had severe frostbite.
Dellinger said she will be following up on his care and reaching out to other nonprofits and public agencies, including Veteran’s groups for additional support.
The Kindness Project transported 20 individual to the various night warming stations in the last couple of weeks, averaging 4-5 a day. Contact The Kindness Project at KindnessProjectHky@gmail.com.