DECATUR, Il. (WAND) -- With temperatures set to go below zero this weekend, the Salvation Army in Decatur is expecting to need to provide a home for people in its Men's Shelter.
The organization received 30 extra cold cots from The Red Cross that gives them the ability to potentially provide a temporary home for more men."
"I hope that we don't get to use them all, that means people are okay, but it is amazing to be there for somebody to go into some place warm that is readily available," Salvation Army Corps Officer Kenesa Debela said. "I just can't think or fathom the idea that someone is freezing out there to death when there are so many different places that they can go in."
The men's shelter is a open year round and serves as a program to help men in central Illinois gain the necessary skills to get their life back on track.
"Cold cots is a temporary fix, but at the Salvation Army we want to work towards self-sufficiency and toward a long term goal," Debela said. "Hopefully our guests will come in as a cold cot clients and then we would transition them into our emergency housing and our transitional housing programs so they can be helped going forward."
Any man in the central Illinois area can enter the shelter beginning tonight at 5 p.m. They will be provided a cot and a free meal. You can learn more at The Salvation Army's website.
