“It’s really hard to go home to a warm place and not think about our friends outside,” Elizabeth Shrout said. “I do struggle with it. I do pray that they are okay.”
FORT WORTH, Texas — As the Arctic blast sweeps through Fort Worth, Elizabeth Shrout and her team at Day Resource Center (DRC) Solutions are hard at work reaching out to the city’s homeless population.
Shrout regularly provides essentials to those in need. But this time, the team is focusing on one critical issue: staying warm.
“It’s really hard to go home to a warm place and not think about our friends outside,” Shrout said, reflecting on the difficulty of seeing others endure harsh conditions without shelter. “I do struggle with it. I do pray that they are okay.”
On Tuesday, Shrout and her team visited homeless camps across the city, alerting people about the warming centers and overnight shelters available, including those that will open specifically due to the North Texas freeze.
Tony Wilson, Executive Director of DRC Solutions, expressed his concerns. He said he realizes in some cases, the homeless population may feel no one cares for them. But his organization is fighting that stigma. He said he fears some of them will not survive the freeze by remaining in their tents.
“Just fear that they are going to be able to make it through,” Wilson said. “I am grateful that the city opens the overflow shelters so that people have someplace to go whenever the nights get frigid.”
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service (NWS) are closely monitoring the situation. “These are going to be some of the coldest temperatures of the year so far,” said Jennifer Dunn, a meteorologist with the Fort Worth office of the NWS.
The NWS is working around the clock to track the freezing temperatures.
“We have a suite of forecasters who are producing the forecast, monitoring the radar, providing updates to our partners where the freezing line is, producing graphics, and communicating,” Dunn explained.
The office is in constant communication with local partners, including school districts, to ensure public safety and inform decisions regarding class schedules.
Despite the challenges, outreach workers remain hopeful that their efforts have made a difference in encouraging people to seek shelter and safety from the brutal cold. After the freeze hits, teams like Shrout’s are committed to checking in on the homeless population.
“We go out the next day to see if they are okay and sometimes, they are not,” Shrout explained. “By the Grace of God, some are.”
