Sleeping on the street to build a warm place

MOSES LAKE — A row of boxes sat in the Penhallurick's True Value parking lot Thursday night and into Friday morning. To most the boxes were just that; boxes. Sure they hold valuables and can come in handy in a variety of situations. But, all-in-all, a simple cardboard box doesn’t have a lot of emotional pull or extra value outside of normal day-to-day uses.

To the less fortunate, a cardboard box can represent shelter, solace and a place of refuge. Those people were what Thursday night and Friday morning’s Sleep on the Street event was all about. Sleep on the Street was put on by the Homeless Task Force of Grant County to raise awareness of homelessness in the area and to raise crucial funds for the Warming Center in Moses Lake.

To highlight the plight of the homeless, local prominent community members left the warmth and comfort of their own homes to sleep in a box in the Penhallurick’s parking lot. Moses Lake Police Department Chief Kevin Fuhr, Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones, Serve Moses Lake Director Tim Cloyd, Moses Lake School District Administrator Dave Balcom, Moses Lake City councilmember Don Myers and Moses Lake Presbyterian Church Youth Pastor Matt Janosov chased sleep and braved the frigid temperatures.

There was a constant flood of passersby stopping in the parking lot giving the participants a good luck handshake and making donations to the Warming Center.

"I really appreciate what these guys are doing to get the word out about the homeless problem in our community," stated Moses Lake resident Donna Jackson, who stopped by the event location to see what it was all about. "This is really an in your face way to talk about an issue that sometimes gets overlooked in our area."

The Warming Center, located in the former Boys and Girls Club building on Third Avenue in Moses Lake, opened on Thursday night and is set to be open from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. seven days a week in the cold winter months of December, January and February.

The goal of the Warming Center is to provide the homeless in the community a warm spot to come to off the street and have a warm meal when the temperatures dip.

"The Warming Center is operated by local volunteers; this is the main reason services are available for only three months. The center is a short-term solution to the increasing issue of homelessness in the county. During 2017 the Homeless Task Force will begin developing a long-term strategy," task force chairperson Sheila Chilson previously stated.

The Warming Center’s first go-round spanned seven weeks last year in December 2015, and January and February 2016. During those seven weeks 166 people used the Warming Center, a nightly average of 16 people.

For more information, contact Sheila Chilson at 509-771-2361 or schilson@mlchc.org.