ST. LOUIS — Organizations across St. Louis spent Christmas Day helping others.
Days after frigid temperatures impacted the regions, more warming shelters opened across the Bi-state.
Inside the St. James Bible Church on Sunday, Dec. 25, there were 40 cots covering the floor. Each of them was a temporary home.
City Hope St. Louis CEO and Founder Bishop Michael Robinson said the organization got an opportunity to offer more space to the unhoused.
"As we know there is a huge challenge in our city, and we need more space," he said. "Even with these spaces open, we’re finding out, due to these drastically cold temperatures, that we are need of more shelter space in our city."
While the freezing temperatures continued through Christmas Day, more people were searching for somewhere warm. Thankfully, Robinson was able to open two new shelters just weeks ago.
"Pretty much ever since we opened these sites, they have been full," he said. "It took about two or three days for individuals to hear and get the word out that these new locations were open, and ever since then, we’ve been running pretty much at capacity."
Robinson said the need has been so great that they even added more beds days into opening the doors.
"Being able to open these up right before this winter freeze came through, it meant everything. It meant everything to our guests that were able to come inside," he said.
From warm beds to a hot meal, volunteers at the St. Patrick Center cut pie slice after pie slice to make sure everyone in the community was fed.
Volunteer Ann Eftimoff said her favorite part is seeing the joy on the peoples' faces.
"This is their meal. This is the one meal of the day that they can count on," she said.
Just like the need for shelter has increased, Eftimoff said, so has the need for food.
"This last year, the St. Patrick Center served over 1,000 more people than they’ve served in previous years. They’ve served almost 4,000 already in this year and the numbers increased significantly. With this bitter cold, I know the clients are going to enjoy a nice warm meal on Christmas Day here, with some pie," she said.
For many working in the kitchen on Christmas, such as Margaret Benz, serving is a family tradition, but it's much more than just slicing bread.
"These people are people who are marginalized a lot," Benz said. "The population and the clients that are here today are people who have needs, just like everybody else, they’re just like all of us. Some of them don’t have families who they’re in contact with and some of them are overlooked a lot. I think they need to know they have value and worth."
The holiday meal on Dec. 25 seemed to be a gift for both the receiver and the giver.
"It’s just a real benefit, not just to them, but to me. I feel good going home knowing that I helped someone else on this day," Benz said.
All of City Hope St. Louis' warming shelters will be open 24/7 through March 31, 2023. Here are the addresses for the two new walk-up shelters:
- St. James location, 5420 Cote Brillante Ave., St. Louis, MO 63112.
- Hope House location, 1840 Hogan St., St. Louis, MO 63106.
To watch 5 On Your Side broadcasts or reports 24/7, 5 On Your Side is always streaming on 5+. Download for free on Roku or Amazon Fire TV.