Freezing temperatures and biting winds have driven more homeless men and women to seek shelter from Hoboken’s coldest days. Health officials said that frostbite can occur when temperatures drop below 32 degrees, its intensity varying based on the wind chill and the length of time spent outside.
Hoboken Mayor David Roberts, as part of his homelessness initiative, pledged that none of Hoboken’s homeless will have to sleep out in freezing temperatures, even if that means putting them in a hotel room for the evening. On Wednesday, Roberts personally, along with City Council President Ruben Ramos, manned a school bus and took approximately 40 homeless individuals to local shelters or hotels.
Roberts said Wednesday he will lobby the county to help fund the emergency program that was implemented last week because of the history-making low temperatures. Volunteers, several adults, and eight high school students from the Hoboken School District’s First Responders program have been manning two school-owned buses and have been transporting homeless persons to locations with beds and food.
The volunteers searched for the homeless and encouraged them to take advantage of area shelters last week. Roberts was clear that homeless persons were not arrested or forced to go to the shelter, but were persuaded to go when it was perilously cold.
The busses first transported the homeless to the Hoboken Homeless Shelter at 300 Bloomfield St. The Hoboken Shelter has 40 beds, which are full most nights. On nights that are extremely cold they the shelter can squeeze in 50 people. If the Hoboken Shelter was full, the bus dropped off homeless persons at another nearby shelter, St. Lucy’s Shelter at 619 Grove St. in Jersey City. St. Lucy’s is a supervised 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, year-’round emergency shelter facility for single women and men.
When both of those filled up, Roberts said, he has arranged, with the help of the Hudson County Welfare Department, for the overflow homeless to be taken to a North Bergen hotel for the night.
“We are always concerned about people sleeping outside, and are working on many fronts to address homelessness,” said Roberts. “But when the temperature drops to these life-threatening levels, our first priority is to ensure the immediate safety of some of Hoboken’s most vulnerable citizens.”
For the more fortunate
Volunteers also are stretched to the limit during cold weather periods. People are needed to help cook, serve, set up and clean up at the overflowing local shelters that are open to house the homeless overnight.
The Hoboken Homeless Shelter is always looking for volunteers to maintain the facilities and aid in the serving of meals from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. It is also accepting contributions of money, clothes, toiletries, and food left over from parties and entertainment functions. For more information on how to help, contact Sister Norberta Hunnewinkel at (201) 656-5069.
Likewise St. Lucy’s is looking for volunteers. For more information on how to volunteer call (201) 656-7201.