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Thanks to the relentless effort of a committed group of community members, the Florence Emergency Cold Weather Shelter became a reality, opening for the first night on December 30, 2014.
After a lengthy search for a shelter site, Florence Masonic Lodge No. 107, located South of Florence, agreed to allow the use of their facility in 2014 and 2015. When the Masonic Lodge building became unavailable we searched for a new location. Three churches, the Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw, Florence United Methodist Church and New Life Lutheran Church, volunteered their buildings as locations for the shelter.
Our first two nights open were on rainy, cold nights on December 5 and 6, 2016 at the Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw. Since then we opened at New Life Lutheran Church on December 13 and 14, and back at the Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw on December 15,16 and 17. Then, when the sub-freezing snow storm hit, the shelter was open New Years night through January 5th, and later January 11 through the night of January 15.
Reverend Greg Wood, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of the Siuslaw is the President and Reverend Carol Thompson of the First Methost Church is the Vice-President. When praised for her church's stepping forward to provide a venue for our shelter, Carol replied "Isn't that what we are supposed to do.?"
Flag indicating Shelter will open tonight. |
Beds set up in Presbyterian Church |
