Floral City Church Opens Cold-Weather Shelter, Seeks Overnight Volunteers

For the congregation at Floral City Methodist Church, providing a warm, safe place to sleep on cold winter nights is simply part of their calling to share the love of God with their neighbors.
The shelter will open on the first night overnight temperatures are forecast to reach 40 degrees or below. The church’s Hilton Hall, a multipurpose building, will be transformed into a cold-weather shelter.
The idea is something church secretary Elizabeth Lewis had been thinking about for a while.
“We have a food pantry, we have a Tuesday breakfast, and a lot of people that come in for that have no place to go during the winter,” Lewis said. “So, we just thought this would be a good fit.”
More than that, Lewis and the church’s pastor, Cindy Long, believe this is God’s calling on the church.
They estimated they would need 30 cots to get the shelter started. Then someone from Citrus County Emergency Services called to say they had 11 cots for them.
“I told him we were trying to get 30, and he assured me that he can get the rest to us before it’s time to open,” Lewis said.
They’ve been collecting warm jackets, socks, clean underwear and T-shirts. They also have plenty of blankets and sheets.
“Sunshine Lodge redid their rooms and brought us all their clean blankets, sheets and pillows,” Lewis said. “But then I was thinking, ‘How am I going to go out and get all these pillowcases?’ Then Peggy, a lady from our church, knocked on the door and said, ‘Do you have any need for all of these pillowcases?’”
Although not affiliated with the Citrus Cold Weather Shelter operated by BASICS United, the Floral City shelter will offer similar services.
Citrus County Transit will provide free transportation to Floral City on its regular bus line.
Individuals, families and pets are welcome, with separate sleeping areas for men, women and families. Pets must be in kennels, and the church has some donated kennels available.
“We met with the VFW to share our needs and story with them, and they want us to track the veterans so we can communicate to them about any necessary needs that they might be able to help with,” Long said.
Volunteers will prepare an evening meal in Hilton Hall’s kitchen, and breakfast will be served in the morning.
The church has already identified a number of people expected to use the shelter.
“We give out probably 30 bags of food a week here … and the same people that pick that food up eat breakfast with us on Tuesdays,” she said. “Once you get to know them a little bit and you work with them a lot, you realize how beautiful they are. They’re wonderful people.
“They all know that somebody cares,” she said. “And I think that’s extra important.”

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