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Jan 24, 2014 | Luke Blount

St. Mark's, Bay City, Opens Doors for Homeless on Cold Night

As weather reports in southeast Texas indicated freezing rain and dropping temperatures, St. Mark's, Bay City, opened their doors Thursday night, welcoming the homeless off the streets.

 

A few weeks ago, when the 'Polar Vortex' sent temperatures plummeting across the country, the local Methodist church, St. Paul's, welcomed three homeless people off the streets into the warmth of the church. When it became clear another winter storm was coming to Bay City, the Rev. Brad Sullivan decided to team up with the Methodist church to offer the service again.

 

"We called the Sheriff's Department, the newspaper and the United Way just to get the word out at the last minute," Sullivan said. "We only had one person this first time, but that's still one person."

 

Volunteers from the church made soup for their guest and were prepared to arrange a sleeping space for him. But before they could pull together a make-shift bed arrangement, the man fell asleep on a couch at 8:30 p.m. The church volunteers stayed throughout the night in case more people arrived. St. Paul's welcomed two homeless people that night as well.

 

"There's not a homeless shelter in Bay City," Sullivan said. "So a lot of people don't realize there is a need. So even if it just starts raising some awareness, that would be a good thing."

 

St. Mark's and St. Paul's will again offer the service tonight if the need is there. For more information call St. Mark's at 979.245.2557.