Several Warming Stations Available in Rapid City, South Dakota, for Homeless Individuals

Cornerstone Rescue Mission and Woyatan Lutheran Church in Rapid City are offering warming stations to help individuals experiencing homelessness stay safe during the cold weather. Matthew Hower, operations manager at Cornerstone Rescue Mission, emphasized the importance of providing a place where people can stay warm, dry, and fed. “Very important for them to have a place where they can go, dry off, stay warm, have a cup of coffee,” he said.

The organizations aim to support people in need by offering shelter and resources. Krystal Rencountre, outreach coordinator at Woyatan Lutheran Church, shared the mission’s goal of helping individuals regain stability. “It’s important for us to help them on their feet as quick as possible, so we can get them somewhere safe and warm, so they don’t end up passing away out there. That’s our ultimate goal is to keep our relatives alive,” she said.

Woyatan Lutheran Church and Cornerstone Rescue Mission are among the local warming stations available. Woyatan is closed on Saturdays and open Sunday from 11:15 a.m. through 5 p.m., while Cornerstone is open 24/7. Both locations provide food, water, and resources to help individuals get back on their feet.

“We’re open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so they’re welcome to stay all day. They don’t have to leave at all. They can stay here all day long if they’d like,” Rencountre said. The 30 to 90 day program at Cornerstone includes a night by night option, where individuals can stay on a cot during the night and leave during the day.

Both organizations also offer housing assistance and case management services. “We do housing assistance to sign them up for different housing around the Pennington County area,” Rencountre said. “We have two case managers that work with them. One of them specializes in housing and finding available housing for them,” Hower explained.

Hower noted that homelessness can happen to anyone, and the organizations are committed to providing support. “He understands homelessness can happen to anyone. People get sick, people lose their house, people whatever. And so, we understand that it can happen to anybody, and we want to be able to open the door and say, ‘Come on in, let’s get you back up and runnin,’ ” he said.

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