With overnight temperatures expected to dip below freezing and as low as the teens in the coming days, the Salvation Army will be opening its shelter Tuesday through Friday night.
Major Luis Melendez said volunteers with Iglesias Unitas or United Churches have agreed to help man the shelter, 810 E. 11th Street.
The Salvation Army will feed those in need from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and those who need to stay can stay until 8 a.m. They’ll also be given a continental breakfast, he said.
David Munyan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Midland, said a weak cold front will drop daytime temperatures down to the 50s Tuesday and Wednesday, but the overnight lows will be near freezing.
Temperatures will drop even further when a “fairly strong” cold front moves in overnight Wednesday into Thursday, Munyan said.
“We’ll drop into the single digits and with the windchill, it could be pretty dangerous,” Munyan said.
It could feel as cold as -15 degrees, he said.
‘We’ll be in the mid-20s throughout the day Friday and drop down again into the teens overnight, but with the windchill it’ll feel like single digits,” Munyan said.
The Salvation Army implemented a two-month moratorium on its soup kitchen recently due to a lack of volunteers and employees and announced earlier this month they may not be able to open its temporary inclement weather shelter for the same reason.
Melendez said thankfully they got enough volunteers to open the soup kitchen five days last week and the shelter three nights. They served dinner to roughly 30 people per night and they housed a handful of people two nights and 10 one night.
Prior to Melendez’s arrival in June 2021, the shelter lost several staff and volunteers during the pandemic. It also lost staff when the City of Odessa found several code violations following a bathroom remodel project and the shelter couldn’t fully open, he said.
It took several months, but the shelter is now up to code with a brand new fire alarm and suppression system, Melendez said.
However, they’ve had a hard time finding staff and volunteers, he said.
In fact, they’ve also had a hard time finding bell ringers. They’ve raised nearly $51,500 so far this year, but their goal is $70,000, he said.
Jesus House Executive Director Donny Kyker said Monday that if the Salvation Army isn’t able to open its shelter consistently he plans to ask the City of Odessa to build its own shelter.
“People never know when their doors are going to be open. They’re confused,” Kyker said. “The volunteers there and the leadership there need to make up their minds about what they want to do. What lane do they want to be in?”
By that, Kyker said the Salvation Army needs to decide if they just want to participate in their Christmas projects and run their thrift store or if they truly want to run a shelter, too.
The need is great and too often over the last three years those in need have to go to the Salvation Army shelter in Midland, he said.
“Our soup kitchen numbers are continuing to rise and our shelter needs are continuing to rise,” Kyker said.
Jesus House recently raised enough funds to renovate its kitchen and over the next two weeks they’ll be closed down so they can move around walls in order to accommodate more people, Kyker said.
Once reopen, people will be able to come into Jesus House, located at 6th Street and Dixie Boulevard, as early as 4 a.m. and stay as late as 2 p.m., he said.
They typically serve 20 breakfasts and 100 lunches a day, Kyker said.
