ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WXYZ) — The staff at Motor City Mitten Mission help people living out on the streets every single day.
This week they are ramping up services to help protect the unhoused from the dangerously cold weather.
“It’s a very different situation when you’re dealing with temperatures that this bad,” said Gail Marlow, executive director of Motor City Mitten Mission.
Marlow’s team takes items from the outreach pantry and distributes them to the homeless throughout metro Detroit.
“We have two teams out during the day time and into the evening,” she said.
Marlow says this week she’s bringing in extra people to help distribute items like blankets, coats, gloves and more as temperatures are expected to hit the single digits starting Monday.
“You’re dealing with frostbite, you’re dealing with people that have mental illness issues or addiction issues don’t necessarily realize how cold it gets at times so they’ll fall asleep and sometimes they won’t wake up," Marlow said.
The MCMM team also helps unhoused people get into shelters and warming centers throughout metro Detroit.
Marlow says sometimes people don’t want to go to shelters and some even prefer to stay in their cars especially if they have pets.
“How do you help those people?” I asked.
“We check on them, we make sure they are doing ok. If we’re able to, we’ll try to put some gas in their car,” Marlow added. “We provide them with blankets, hand warmers, if they need it, we’ll bring them pet supplies, we work with Michigan Humane.”
If you see an unhoused person in the cold and want to get them help, Marlow says you can call the MCMM outreach hotline at 586-563-7070.
“You can call that number and we’ll deploy a team out to see them. Be patient though because we’ve been getting a lot of referrals. You can also message us through Facebook or our website,” said Marlow.
