Space available at Pueblo warming shelter despite cold

I was in the news in pueblo.

Some of Pueblo's homeless prefer sleeping outside to the shelters

Pueblo

The Salvation Army's warming shelter in Pueblo still has space available, despite agencies reporting a greater need in 2015.

There are many reasons most of the homeless in town are not spending the night at the Salvation Army, but they tell News 5 one of the biggest concerns is the people who are utilizing the shelter. Between fights and problems with stealing, they feel it is unsafe.

The warming shelter has 50 cots available for single men on cold nights, with extra room upstairs to accommodate more if need be. Coordinators say they are only seeing about 35 men a night, though, because people are staying with friends or scraping together money for a motel, or they have pets, which are not allowed.

Salvation Army staff admit the shelter lifestyle is not for everyone. "It's not an easy situation when you have to come in, sleep on the floor and take all your belongings with you every night," says social services director Cathy Cline.

Instead, some homeless people like Sherri Hays are living in houses without electricity. "We have to make our own means of heat and all that," she says, "but we still get by."

Others like Preston Desue prefer sleeping outdoors to the shelter. He says, "You just gotta have good winter gear. Zero degree sleeping bags are the best. A couple sleeping bags if it gets too cold, just put one inside the other and you're nice and toasty."

Desue says it took a long time to collect all his gear, and he fears others would steal his belongings while he is asleep. Plus, he says he does not like a crowd. "Too many hum bums on meth and heroin or chronic alcoholics," he says of the shelter, "and they're just going to end up stealing your stuff or causing some kind of problem."

The other main shelter in town, the Pueblo Rescue Mission, is crowded right now, with 38 men and 25 women sleeping in beds and on cots. But again, many homeless do not like the company. "They're just like 'I'm going to get drunk' or 'I'm just going to get high on drugs' and all that, and they don't care about the safety or concerns of other people," says Hays.

Posada reports there are beds available for less than 1% of Pueblo's homeless population. The agency is working on a limited basis to provide motel rooms for Pueblo families.

Desue says the city should help find a solution. "There's so many abandoned buildings around here that could be fixed up and can be given to people that are homeless," he says, "and giving them houses is the best way of defeating homelessness."

Hays says donations of blankets are the most helpful this time of year, as the extra layer could mean the difference between life and death

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written by By Jessi Mitchell

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