Code Purple Sussex County in "Critical Need" of Volunteers as Ov - WBOC-TV 16, Delmarvas News Leader, FOX 21 -

SEAFORD, Del.- As temperatures continue to drop, Code Purple Sussex County is working hard to serve the homeless and make sure everyone has a warm place to sleep at night.

Code Purple Sussex County opened several overnight shelters Dec. 1, just as they do every year right before the start of winter.

The plan is to open those shelters every night through March 15th, but that mission is facing a major setback. As of now, there are not enough overnight volunteers for all the shelters to open.

Each shelter is required to have at least one volunteer spend the night with guests, so without those volunteers, shelters can not open.

Executive Director Nikki Gonzalez said this it eh first year the organization is facing this problem.

Code Purple Sussex County is opening a total of nine shelters this season in different towns. That means a minimum of nine overnight volunteers are needed each night.

However, Gonzalez said a lack of volunteers is already putting the shelter in Milford at risk of not opening tonight, and the shelter is Georgetown is also in critical condition.

To put the need in perspective, Gonzalez said the Code Purple Shelters serve dozens of people around Sussex County.

"Most can hold 14. Some are going to be more like 30. There is going to be 100 people overall each night," said Gonzalez.

For more information and to sign-up to volunteer, you can visit the Code Purple Sussex County website.