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Ashland warming shelter doesn’t have enough trained volunteers to open at night By Morgan Rothborne Updated: Nov 07, 2022 03:05 PM A A The warming shelter at Pioneer Hall in Ashland doesn’t have enough trained volunteers to operate during nighttime hours. [Tidings / file photo] The city of Ashland called for a warming shelter in the face of an icy forecast for the week of Nov. 7-12, but the volunteers who run it informed the city they don’t have enough help. “Usually when the warming shelter is called, we’re open from 9 at night to 9 in the morning. We should be opening overnight to get people out of the cold, but we just can’t do it,” said Avram Sacks, a volunteer who has helped run Ashland’s warming shelters for the past two years. A warming shelter will be available to warm cold hands and toes at Pioneer Hall, 73 Winburn Way, Ashland, from 5 to 8 p.m., and again from 7 to 10 a.m., Nov. 7-12. Hot breakfast and dinner will be available, but the shelter will have to close between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. “The city calls for the shelter, and they think somehow we’ll just pull people out of a hat like magicians; they never think about how does this happen. Somehow we’ve always been able to come up with the people,” Sacks said. “This time we said ‘No, we’re sorry. This needs to be done properly; you should have been planning this all summer; we should have had trainings.’ We told them until we have the training, we don’t want to run the risk of working without trained people.” Because of the pandemic, he explained, the city has not held any training for overnight shelter volunteers in three years. Many of those previously trained were elderly, and now they don’t want to be shelter hosts because of their own COVID-19 risk. Last year, he said, one couple ran over half of the shelters, but it is unsustainable to ask so much of one couple. “We used to get people from the churches. But the churches are graying out. We need to find a new source,” he said. The next training will be at 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17, at Pioneer Hall. But Sacks said there are many ways to help. He encouraged anyone interested to come to Pioneer Hall this week and volunteer. The city of Ashland calls for warming shelters whenever the temperature drops below a certain threshold — previously 28 degrees, but during the Nov. 1 City Council meeting, Mayor Julie Akins proposed calling for shelters between 32 and 35 degrees, depending on wind chill. City Manager Joe Lessard warned there would be logistical issues with this in the long term, but he agreed the temperature change was appropriate. The council voted unanimously in favor. The city doesn’t run the shelters it calls for, Sacks explained. City staff monitor the forecast and then call for the warming shelter, giving volunteers 24 hours notice to get enough people together, obtain an appropriate building and gather water, food and other supplies. The city says there is no insurance company that will cover a city running a homeless shelter, Sacks said. “They’ll cover the building, like if the roof caved in and hurt people. But if a guest hurt a host or something, or if somebody sued for some reason, they wouldn’t cover that,” he said. Most of the time, there’s nothing but politeness and gratitude from those who use the warming shelters. If there ever is a problem, the police are called, and they come right away, he said. There also is a list of people not allowed in because of their behavior, but the list renews yearly — every winter everyone gets a fresh chance. Outside this list, Ashland’s warming shelters are “low-barrier”; entry is based on past and present behavior, not sobriety. The nonprofit Jobs with Justice has run the shelter for the city, and it will continue for one more week, Sacks said, but its insurance isn’t enough to cover the shelters. Options for Helping Residents of Ashland is expected to take over after a meeting later this week. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected] or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.