Warming Stations Open In Oklahoma City As Shelters Brace For Arctic Temps

With temperatures dropping, shelters around Oklahoma City are working to protect the homeless.

One of two day warming shelters, the Homeless Alliance, saw one of its busiest lunches in quite a while Monday.

“We'll see 350, 400 people in the day shelter today,” Homeless Alliance Director Dan Straughan said.

The Homeless Alliance is one of many organizations ramping up operations to keep people warm, following a big improvement last year.

“The winter before last, we lost eight people to the cold and to fires that people had set to keep warm. So last winter, we took this program that we've had in place for a while and really made it a lot more robust,” Straughan said.

Straughan said last winter, there were no deaths by freezing or fires in the homeless population.

However, shelter is just one of many needs, according to Straughan.

The Homeless Alliance is in need of coats, hats, socks and glove donations.