ST. LOUIS — Asbury United Methodist Church is the newest location Pastor Michael Robinson, the CEO of City Hope St. Louis, is partnering with to provide a warming center for the homeless this winter.
Days before opening, they got bad news.
"We were notified that the heat pump out back was not there," Robinson said.
The heat pump is located on the backside of the church inside of a gate that they keep locked.
Robinson said on Wednesday when they went back to check, it was stolen.
"That put a damper on how we were going to open this place up," Robinson said.
Since 2017, Robinson's nonprofit expanded to seven locations across the city, helping up to 400 people in need of shelter during the winter.
"It's not out of the norm to see someone come in that has the beginning stages of frostbite, to see individuals that have open wounds, infections that have not been taken care of," Robinson said.
The cots are set up to serve 20-30 people in need at this location, but they won't be able to open without replacing the heat pump.
"The estimates weaken me in my knees a little bit as they told me it was going to be between $8,000-$10,000 to replace it because of the damage," Robinson said.
Now, it's a race against the winter, as he hopes to raise enough money before temperatures drop to dangerous lows.
"Unfortunately there were five unhoused friends that died in last winter's weather. We want to ensure that nobody has to die because they don't have access to shelter," Robinson said.
Robinson said he filed a police report for the stolen heat pump.
You can help, by visiting the City Hope STL website on their donations webpage.