SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - As a weekend snowstorm approaches, local organizations and a church in Sussex County are mobilizing to offer warm, safe shelter to people without housing.
Higher Ground Outreach will open an emergency shelter at God's Way Ministries in Milton with room for 40 people in need.
"I myself will be patrolling this area during the storm just in case the police or somebody come into contact with someone that needs to go to one of the shelters or our shelter," Luis Hernández, Higher Ground Outreach director and co-founder, said. "We'll be ready to transport them and bring them there."
He added that transportation to the shelter will begin Saturday.
"We have a van here at Higher Ground. We have a pickup truck that can transport one person and a driver, so we're going to have all those things and another third vehicle," Hernández explained.
Hernández mentioned they plan to be at the emergency shelter for three days.
"It all depends on weather conditions. We're going to monitor it just like everybody else does, and make sure that the conditions are feasible for them to be able to, you know, exit safely," Hernández said. "The cold conditions after the storm might not be favorable either, but at that point, we may not be able to continue as an emergency shelter."
However, if that's the case, Hernández said Higher Ground Outreach will be open on its regular days and hours.
Hernández noted that Higher Ground Outreach is working with local organizations such as Springboard Collaborative and First State Community Action Agency to make this possible.
"To have other organizations in the area come together and offer their help to us to succeed in what mission we're doing, I find it refreshing. I'm happy, and I hope we can do this for years to come," Hernández said.
Michael Elliott, who has lived in a tent in Georgetown for nearly a year, is grateful to sleep in a warm and safe space for the upcoming nights.
"It means a lot to not only me, but everybody else," Elliott said. "I'm sure if it wasn't for Lou and April helping as much as they help, a lot of us would be stuck in the mud, basically."
Hernández explained they need donations of bottled water.
"We're working on food items with organizations or groups that help us with that. So we're working with them. They already help us with meals regularly, but now we're asking them to do above and beyond because of the storm," Hernández said.
If space runs out at the church, the Community Navigation Center at the Pallet Village in Georgetown will be used as an overflow location.
Code Purple at the Cape said shelters in Lewes and Rehoboth Beach could open during the day if Delaware Governor Matt Meyer declares a state of emergency. Love INC of Mid-Delmarva, which operates the Code Purple shelters in Georgetown, Seaford, Bethany Beach, and Milford, is also contacting local churches to see if they can host homeless individuals outside regular Code Purple hours.
Stay up to date on the approaching winter storm with radar and hourly forecasts in the CoastTV weather app, available for Apple and Android.