BOISE, Idaho — As temperatures continue to fall and snow blankets the ground, homeless shelters have been working overtime to keep people off the streets.
Corpus Christi House is a volunteer-based daytime shelter in Boise. They served about 160 guests when they opened Monday morning.
"We try to restore dignity and respect to our guests, treat them with love, and let them know there's people that care about them," Duane Paris, shelter coordinator for Corpus Christi said. "And that we understand life's challenging, and you know, a lot of us have never walked in their shoes, but we appreciate the challenges that they have."
The shelter offers services including showers, food, laundry, mail service, and a warm place to stay during the day.
Corpus Christi serves an average of 150 guests each day. Paris says everyone comes in for a different reason, but their goal is the same for everyone.
"Anything we can do to help get them warm and keep them safe, and in a good environment. That's our goal in life," Paris said.
To keep up with increased demand this winter, Corpus Christi has expanded some of its daytime services.
"Demand is growing every day. Every day we're seeing more and more guests come down here - and they're not the same guests," Paris said. "Last week alone, I was out here in front of Corpus Christi working with other guests. And all of a sudden, somebody comes by and starts asking me where Interfaith Sanctuary is, and they tell me it's the first day of their homeless life."
Corpus Christi and Interfaith Sanctuary have collaborated to set up a warming tent to keep people out of the cold at night.
"The biggest challenge right now is, there's there's a lot of little fixes, but there is no overall solution - and it's a big challenge," Paris said.
Boise also has an Emergency Shelter Overflow Program, which provides the homeless with a place to stay at night when a local weather advisory has been issued and shelters hit capacity. The program is administered by Interfaith Sanctuary and funded by the City of Boise through Our Path Home.
"As it gets colder and colder, I mean this week it sounds like we're going to be moving into the 20s," Paris said. "Which can you imagine being out in the 20s, in wet clothes, nowhere to go. So it really starts to be a challenge."
With more demand this time of year, shelters are asking for support from the community.
Corpus Christi runs on donations. On Monday, they started Avenues of Hope, their main fundraiser where they get funds to operate throughout the year. They have a goal of raising $150,000.
In addition to donations, they are also looking for volunteers.
"We run on a really limited staff, we're really challenged with volunteers right now," Paris said. "We really need help with volunteers coming in and helping our staff and meet the needs. So we're going to be open this year, six days a week. In the past, we've opened up on Sundays, but we just don't have the staffing resources to do that. And what little staff I do have, I need to give them a day off where they can be with their family and just decompress and have some quality time away from Corpus and the hustle and bustle of our day."
Donations to Corpus Christi's Avenues of Hope fundraiser can be made here. People interested in volunteering at the shelter can find more information on the Corpus Christi website.
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