Kent County homeless in need of shelter
By DOVER —- With limited homeless shelter space and an arctic blast looming in the future, Dr. Maribel Garcia Zaragoza sounded alarmed Thursday.
“We’re talking about very, very serious weather and we are having an emergency right now,” said the Code Purple Kent County president.
“We have 45 beds and they are all filled. We don’t have any capacity right now.
“We are in a very serious situation. I’ve been reaching out to other churches to try to open up, so they can be an emergency sanctuary for the overflow.”
As of late morning Thursday, one church had offered up two beds for the homeless. Dr. Garcia Zaragoza said Code Purple is seeking shelter sites and volunteers to assist at them.
Possibly 30 or so men could be in need of shelter in the next few days, Dr. Garcia Zaragoza said. At least a couple spots for women and children remained as of Thursday, she said.
The number of homeless persons in the area she’s seen in the past year has risen by perhaps 35%.
“We’ve seen a lot of new people, ones who are chronically homelessness than we’ve seen before,” she said. “We’ve seen a lot of young new people in the situation.”
A permanent shelter for men is at People’s Church, 46 S. Bradford St., while homeless women and children stay at Maranatha Life Changing Church at 1235 E. Division St.
Dr. Garcia Zaragoza said she could open space at the Marantha Life Changing Church site if needed but remains in need of volunteers to assist operations. Help is needed from 4:30 p.m. to 8 a.m.
“We need volunteers for the evening,” she said. “I have a church that is willing to open the doors but they don’t have the staff. So I need volunteers right here in Dover.”
More information is available online at codepurplekentcounty.com, by calling 1-800-733-6816 or emailing codepurpledelaware@gmail.com.
To reach People’s Church directors Ennio Emmanuel and Sue Harris or site leader Teresa Campbell, call 302-526-6098 or 302-674-4177.
Women and children’s director Dr. Garcia Zaragoza can be reached at 302-734-9510.
The dire situation was prompted by an ominous weather forecast of projected temperatures to feel like the single digits Saturday.
