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Ashland’s warming shelter needs help By Morgan Rothborne Updated: Nov 15, 2022 06:35 PM A A Ashland's warming shelter, held in Pioneer Hall, needs volunteers to operate. A volunteer training is scheduled for Thursday evening. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] The city of Ashland has been unable to operate its warming shelter during frigid overnight hours for lack of trained volunteers, but for anyone interested in lending a hand, a training will be held Thursday night. “We’ve told the city we can’t open up overnight until we have enough trained volunteers; we just can’t do it,” said Avram Sacks, longtime volunteer and organizer for the city’s warming shelter. The training will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 17, at Pioneer Hall, 73 Winburn Way, Ashland. Anyone who wants to help is welcome, Sacks said. There are multiple ways to support the shelter, such as cooking food and serving it or dropping it off, but those willing to stay overnight are especially needed. “If there’s two people willing to work overnight, that could save a life,” he said. The city of Ashland recently raised its threshold for calling an emergency weather shelter — from 28 degrees to 32 degrees. Sacks said this likely will lead to more shelters being called this year and increase the need for volunteers as winter approaches. It takes two hosts to run the shelter all night, he said. The hosts are paired up, experienced with inexperienced. The lack of fire sprinklers in the building means there’s a designated fire watch, doubling as a night watch and allowing the hosts to get some sleep. The doors are locked at 10 p.m., and though there are rarely problems, police aren’t far away, he said. The training will feature de-escalation and other kinds of conflict training alongside simple what-to-expect instructions. Drugs and alcohol are not allowed inside the shelter, but those in need aren’t turned away based on smells of alcohol on the breath or cannabis on clothes. “We will kick them out, but we go by behavior,” he said. Due to insurance liability, the city of Ashland calls for warming shelters but does not offer staff to run them, nor is funding available. Without volunteers, Sacks said, the shelter can’t keep anyone out of the cold. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected] or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.