SAN ANTONIO — With freezing precipitation in the forecast, mutual aid workers and volunteers say they are doing everything they can to keep people from dying in the cold.
West side advocate Susana Segura said unsheltered people with mental health or substance abuse issues are particularly vulnerable when the weather is freezing.
Monday, with the temperature hovering just above the freezing mark, Segura intervened in two cases where people needed immediate help.
In one case, a woman collapsed at a bus stop on Guadalupe Street. A passerby stopped to help the woman, who ended up wailing on the cold sidewalk.
As the Samaritan called EMS, Segura showed up with Narcan, thinking the woman may have been experiencing an overdose.
Segura said after the woman was evaluated by EMS and transit police planned to take her to a detox facility.
Of the challenges faced by people who are impaired, Segura said “I don’t think people are aware they are going into hypothermia. They are confused. They fall asleep and they won’t wake up.”
Segura said people without shelter can get into trouble long before the temperature reaches the freezing mark.
“I am afraid people are going to die. Hypothermia can set in with temperatures at 50 degrees and so here we are in a harder freeze,” Segura said.
Because of the holiday Monday, Segura said a number of aid organizations that normally provide support were closed, which left the homeless cold and hungry.
“Everybody is texting me asking if there’s food or snacks, so they need hot things,” Segura said, adding she encourages everyone to look in on the unsheltered in their own neighborhoods.
“Give them some hot hands. Encourage them to get into shelters. They can call 311 and they will send a transport to pick them up,” Segura said, while acknowledging many people avoid shelters, no matter the weather.
“There are a lot of people who will not leave their tents or tarps so they need hot food, hot hands.”
Offering to help a man in a tent in a vacant lot near Guadalupe Street, Segura said the shivering man told her he had been beaten so often in shelters, he feels safer on the street.
Segura said if it starts to rain or snow, staying dry in the cold would be the next challenge.
“Right now we’re using commercial trash bags to keep people covered up. The clear trash bags are good as raincoats and I’m telling people just to stay dry,” Segura said.
For people who are on the move and on their feet all day, Segura said socks are important as well.
“Socks are helpful because a lot of people are just wearing one sock and it’ll keep their feet warmer,” Segura said, adding they go through lots of sock donations because people don’t have the ability to do laundry. When socks are wet or soiled, Segura said, they are often thrown away.
Segura said it’s not just homeless people who are suffering in the cold. She said many seniors are living in substandard older homes without proper insulation or heating, so she encourages everyone to check in on elderly neighbors until the cold weather breaks.
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