OCEAN CITY, Md. - Another stretch of bitter winter weather is putting added strain on shelters and outreach groups across the Lower Shore, with agencies in Ocean City and Salisbury reporting increased demand as temperatures stay below freezing.
At St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Ocean City, volunteers prepared space ahead of the evening opening of the area’s cold weather shelter. The setup is part of a network of emergency options that expand when conditions turn dangerous, as outreach teams work to locate people sleeping outside and connect them to a warm place indoors.
“It’s busy,” said Ken Argot, executive director of Diakonia in Ocean City. He said the organization’s mobile outreach team has been searching for people outside during the cold snap, trying to prevent life threatening exposure.
“Our mobile outreach is out there just trying to find people, make sure that they don’t die tonight,” Argot said, adding that many established shelters are full and cold weather shelters become critical when temperatures drop.
Diakonia has operated for more than 50 years, Argot said, providing homeless support services that range from shelter and mobile outreach to helping people move back into stable housing. The organization also runs specialized services for veterans and a food pantry that served more than 12,000 people last year, he said.
While the cold drives urgency at night, Argot said the challenges do not end when temperatures rise. He pointed to the region’s limited affordable housing as a major barrier to moving people from shelters into permanent homes.
“The housing market is incredibly high,” Argot said. He said subsidy programs often require rent to fall under certain thresholds that can be difficult to find locally, even for a modest apartment.
In Salisbury, J. Anthony Dickerson, executive director of the Christian Shelter, said his staff has been “inundated” with phone calls over the last week, which he attributed to the weather.
Dickerson said his facility is not at capacity yet and has several family rooms available, but he described a recurring challenge: families sometimes call requesting a room, meet the criteria, then do not arrive.
He said the community has been supportive during the cold spell, including donations, but the shelter is currently low on bottled water for guests.
Both leaders emphasized that options exist throughout the region, even when individual shelters cannot accommodate everyone. Dickerson urged people who are outside to seek out designated warming centers and shelters rather than trying to sleep in tents or under bridges during the cold.
“It’s too cold to be sleeping in the tent,” he said. “You deserve to be warm.”