WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – After a few rounds of snow, frigid temperatures are forecas to follow in the Wausau area.
That means people without a house will be in danger of being exposed to those temperatures, and Wausau’s new “Community On Call” initiative will help bring them to shelter.
“The temperatures were going to reach our threshold of 10 below zero with the wind chill and so we immediately knew that we needed to activate,” said Tracy Reiger, the Community Outreach Specialist with the Wausau Police Department. High temperatures will be in the teens on Saturday and in the single numbers on Sunday.
“We contact the host site for the week, and we let them know that we’re going to go ahead and activate the system. That, then, allows them to activate their volunteers and their meal preparation and site preparation,” Reiger said, adding the Mayor’s office, Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Metro Ride are also alerted of the effort.
The purpose of the initiative is to provide shelter in extreme temperatures when other overnight shelters in the city are overwhelmed.
Bridge Street Mission, Wausau Police, and several churches have already signed up to be on call as host sites. “This is creating a network of compassion, a network that brings in the community, and we are doing our service to the community. I believe this initiative is life-saving,” said Alan Alfaro, the Outreach Center Manager for Bridge Street Mission.
There are some materials provided for host sites, such as cots and blankets, and officials are still looking for people and groups to donate their time.”We’re looking for more people, people to help our host sites as partners, potentially people to drive, prepare meals, all those things because really at the end of the day, all of are responsible, I’d like to think, for everybody in this community,” said Donna Ambrose, the executive director for The Neighbors’ Place.
There are three host site openings between February and March. Once March ends, Community On Call will pivot toward getting people set up for the summer months, when the temperatures get extremely warm.
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