SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Emergency cold weather shelters could open next week.

For Tim Michaels and Vicki McCombs, having access to cold weather shelters is more than just a bed and a board; it is often the difference between life and death.

“There are people here every year who end up freezing to death,” Michaels said. “It saves lives,” McCombs said.

Michaels spent years navigating the brutal winters, often without shelter to turn to. At some point, his struggle to survive in the cold became a matter of survival.

“When I had my dog, there were no police dog shelters,” Michaels said. “I couldn’t take my dog ​​with me, so I stayed here with my dog. I wondered if I was going to have to go to the hospital, the emergency room, before my feet froze.”

For many, these shelters provide more than just a place to sleep, but also a sense of safety.

“Every time I’ve been here, it’s been scary. It was so scary, especially being a woman here. Is it dangerous. If you’re on the street, you have to sleep with one eye open because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” McCombs explained.

Right now, leaders at the Community Partnership of the Ozarks say they have enough volunteers to open shelters if needed, but that could change as the cold of winter begins to set in.

“Every year, it seems like we need more and more of these,” said Emily Fessler of the Community Partnership of the Ozarks. “Last year, it took an average of 39 volunteers a night to even open the shelters… things happen. People get sick. You know, life events happen, so it’s so important to always have volunteers on standby.”

City Utilities will provide free transportation to cold weather shelters. Pickup will be from the Veterans Coming Home Center at 6am and from the shelters at 6am.

CLICK HERE for a list of cold weather shelters around Springfield.

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