Update 7:00 p.m. -- Due to a burst pipe at the Frayser-Raleigh Senior Center, the City of Memphis will not be opening a third warming center at that location Tuesday night but instead opening one at the Lewis Senior Center in Midtown.
Before this week, the nonprofit organization JUICE Orange Mound was renovating a 3,000 square foot building in the historic neighborhood as part of its ongoing community development efforts. But on Sunday, the group’s founder Britney Thornton brought cots and sleeping mats to the empty space.
“The project just started from me being cold at home and thinking, you know, as I’m complaining about my house, how...someone else is just outside, even colder,” says Thornton.
Since Sunday, the organization has sheltered and fed around 10 people each night as temperatures dipped below freezing in the Mid-South. It’s a pop-up shelter, but filling a gap, says Thornton, who’s been washing bedding for the shelter out of her own home.
In addition to established year-round shelters, The City of Memphis is also operating two temporary warming centers in North and South Memphis with capacity for about 165 people. A third location is opening Tuesday night in Midtown.
People in need of shelter aren’t just those without a permanent home, Thornton says. Some might not have electricity or heat in their house. One family staying with them has been sleeping in their car.
Although the JUICE accommodations are a temporary, makeshift operation, the nonprofit is working towards long-term solutions in Orange Mound.
“I hope to, now that we have a core group of folks, start to have deeper conversations about what happens after this week, and what we can do to help folks get into a better situation,” Thornton says.
For now, some donated clothing is getting the visitors through cold days outdoors. At night, they play card games and listen to music.
Thornton says the cots will be set up at least through Friday at the site, 2363 Park Avenue near Airways Blvd.
City of Memphis Warming Centers Now Open
- Hollywood Community Center, 1560 N. Hollywood St.
- Ruth Tate Senior Center, 1620 Marjorie St.
- Lewis Senior Center, 1188 North Parkway
