By Mike Hazlip—
A local nonprofit with a mission to aid area homeless is asking for help after services provided over the weekend at a city-run cooling shelter took a toll on the organization’s funds.
Homeless Assistance Resource Team spokeswoman Kathilynn Carpenter said her organization spent more than $1,000 out of their budget helping individuals brought to the city’s cooling center in the Community Center over the weekend. The Underground Clothing store at Sunrise Mall also provided clothes, she said.
Nichole Baxter, Communications Officer for the City of Citrus Heights, told The Sentinel in an email Wednesday that the cooling center served between 10 and 16 people per day over a three-day span when temperatures spiked above the 100 degree mark last weekend.
In an email to The Sentinel Wednesday, Acting Commander Wesley Herman confirmed police transported some individuals to the cooling center after determining they were homeless.
Carpenter did not release personal information out of privacy concerns, but confirmed police brought the individuals to the center to escape the heat. In addition to water and an air conditioned space, she said HART provided meals and lined up a hotel for some individuals experiencing homelessness, including several minors.
Carpenter called the recent heat wave “a terribly unhealthy environment for our unhoused residents,” and said the cooling center provides a critical need for those without other options for avoiding the heat.
“The City has been great with the Cooling Center and HART members have been volunteering at the center.” Carpenter said in Wednesday’s email. She said the center stayed open past the usual 7 p.m. closing time, as temperatures stayed above 100.
Carpenter said her organization is actively seeking donations to help area homeless. She said one volunteer is working to get a family’s car out of the tow yard to get repaired, with an $800 bill from the tow yard and costs of repair still to be assessed.
More information on volunteer opportunities and a link for online donations is available at www.citrusheightshart.org.
