STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Several communities have opened their warming centers amid cold temperatures and scattered snow.
There are two centers located in Stevens Point, one is at Frame Memorial Presbyterian Church. 25 people have taken shelter there since it opened earlier this month. They offer people a place to sleep and get warm, and depending on donations, a snack.
Leaders there say they play a key role by being sympathetic to certain needs. “There are some people that might have mental illness or something like that that aren’t able to use the other shelter, and it’s just a good thing to have a backup set, nobody has to sleep outside,” said Melissa Schroeder, a staff advocate at the warming center.
For her, this center is extra special, as she once fell on tough times and needed to stay there to stay off the street in the winter. “When I was here, I didn’t have anything, and since working here, I’ve gotten a very large support system and extended family. I now have my own home,” she said.
This is her fourth year working at the warming center. More volunteers are needed.
In Marathon County, warming centers are run by Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army in Wausau.
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