The Cold Approaches!

Terry Cole, missionary for Street Youth Ministry, has contacted us because the street-dependent youth and young adults he works with are going to need items to keep warm as Austin enters a cold weather alert. Here is what he has to say:

Record cold weather is on its way to Austin! Street Youth Ministry (SYM) is activating our cold weather protocol Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights in Austin. The temperature is expected to drop rapidly Wednesday, and it will be bitterly cold Thursday and Friday. We need your help.

-- Those of you in Austin, please see below for items needed. Click this link to let me know what you'll be doing and to learn where to drop-off items.

-- No matter where you are, please pray for these days to pass easily-Austin doesn't do cold weather often or easily. Each year we lose some street-dependent folks to cold weather like this in Austin.

-- If you prefer to make a donation to support this effort, you can donate on-line and you can specify cold weather in the comment.

What is needed?

• Warm clothing (adult sized, but pretty much anything works).
• Hats and gloves will be in high demand.
• Blankets and sleepings bags. Wet is expected (sleet/rain).
• Sandwiches and snacks (rich in calories to keep their body temperature up)
• Hot chocolate packages, teas, and hot beverage paper cups (you feel the warmth better through them). We'll keep piping hot water in an igloo to serve it with.
• (We already have bottles of water. People need as much hydration in the extreme cold as the heat.)
• (We already have a lot of Bibles to pass out. Reading helps pass the time.)
• Bus passes (24 hours passes allow you to get on busses and ride all night)

Some extra helpers are needed, also:

• One person each day to move donations each afternoon from Covenant Presbyterian Church to my house.
• One or two person to go with me each night. Meet at my house to load up and so we can do training.

Click this link to let me know what you'll be doing and to learn where to drop-off items. We don't have a lot of storage, so anything left after this event will be donated to Lifeworks. We maintain a great relationship!

What will SYM do?

SYM will go down at dusk each night to the UT drag area. We will pass out whatever is available. Using our client web (MySpace), we are warning people to get ready and find a place to be inside for the next 3 or 4 days. On Wednesday night, we will tell everyone it's going to get worse and that they need to spend all day Thursday working on a night-time solution. We will inform anyone under 24 to go to Lifeworks. We will inform anyone over 24 that they can go to the ARCH to be bussed to a church overnight. We will make available whatever we have to support the young street-dependent people in the UT area.

Isn't there a shelter they can go to?

What will happen to the young street-dependent people? First, as many as possible will be encouraged Wednesday to call a friend and sleep on a floor or couch, if at all possible. Those under 24 have the option to spend the night at Lifeworks cold weather shelter. Those over 24, have only two remaining choices: brave it outdoors or go to the ARCH to be processed and bussed to an unknown cold weather shelter all over the city (usually in a church). We encourage them to go to the ARCH but there are so many unknowns that the young people often choose to brave it outdoors.

Please Pray for their safety.