DETROIT (WXYZ) — As Detroit remains under a Code Blue, community organizations are seeing lots of people come through their doors to avoid the frigid temperatures.
Mark Jackson II has lived in Detroit all his life and, since he was young, things haven’t come easy.
“Been struggling since I was a kid, home from home, situation to situation," Jackson said.
His circumstances led him to be without a home, a situation that becomes much tougher during extreme weather.
"It can drive you to insanity," Jackson said. "Let me remind you, they’re already going through something already."
Jackson is one of dozens staying at Pope Francis Center’s emergency shelter in Detroit as bitter-cold temperatures hit the area. It’s the second time in the past couple of weeks their emergency shelter has opened, and the need is not slowing down.
"Our numbers are higher for the first day than they were the last time we did this, two weeks ago. So it seems like a pretty big increase in the numbers of people looking for this type of shelter," said Father Tim McCabe, president/CEO at Pope Francis Center.
Despite the increase in demand, they’re not turning people away as long as the frigid temps persist this week.
"Being outdoors, whether you’re in your car or anywhere, is kind of dangerous this time of year," McCabe said.
At Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, they’ve also seen increases in the number of people seeking shelter.
“The truth is, all this year, we’ve almost been at bed capacity, which is weird for us, but we understand inflation and everything else,” said Chad Audi, President/CEO of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries.
In addition to offering emergency shelter, the organization is doing outreach to get people out of the cold.
"We have mobilized two of our vans to go to where usually people stay to look if there’s people out there," Audi said.
One couple who has been living in their car says, moving forward, they hope to see more doneto get homeless individuals back on their feet.
“Maybe free trainings for people with actual skills and want to succeed,” they said.
Meanwhile, others say they believe compassion is most important.
“They think we’re just crackheads or alcoholics. I think we should meet people where they’re at and accept them the way they are," Jackson said.
Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries has also increased its case managers to guide people to more long-term housing solutions.
