{"id":1921,"date":"2018-02-27T20:28:07","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T20:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/?p=1921"},"modified":"2018-02-27T20:30:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T20:30:40","slug":"rough-sleepers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/rough-sleepers\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Offers Rough Sleepers a Place to Stay Because of Fears They Could Die in Freezing Weather"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0<\/span>Abby Bolter<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Nine people took shelter on the first night!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fears that rough sleepers may die in sub-zero temperatures have prompted a church to open its doors at night, and nine people have already taken shelter.<\/p>\n

With the wind chill factor set to make temperatures feel as low as -12\u00b0C overnight this week, the Bridgend Town Centre Church has appealed for volunteers, blankets, and food for those in need.<\/p>\n

Pastor Lem Turner, from Compassion Church, said they had seen a rise in the number of homeless people and believe existing provision will be overwhelmed, leaving some out in the cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put the posts on Facebook early on Monday morning and had an outstanding response from our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking for volunteers, anyone who can help; and we might expand this thing as we see the need within the community.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have some blankets here for people, a soup kitchen, maybe offer a movie or two, and a warm and a safe place for people to sleep.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone in this community should be sleeping out because we\u2019re not sure if they\u2019d make it through the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pastor Lem Turner (Image: Abby Bolter)<\/p><\/div>\n

Among those who came in from the cold on Monday evening were a couple, Sarah and Craig (not their real names).<\/p>\n

Ages, 39 and 51, they have been sleeping in shop doorways and a caravan, which has no heat or lighting.<\/p>\n

They believe as many as 30 to 40 people sleep rough regularly in Bridgend.<\/p>\n

Sarah, who has fled an abusive ex-partner, does her best to manage a heart condition, which has left her with a pacemaker, while Craig tries to find work.<\/p>\n

They said the council won’t house them as they have not been in the area long enough. The two have come from the west country but scrape together \u00a350 to \u00a360 once a week for a night in a warm bed and breakfast.<\/p>\n

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Pastor Lem outside Compassion Church (Image: Abby Bolter)<\/p><\/div>\n

“They have capped Craig’s benefits, so he’s only on \u00a340 a week. They are still taking rent top-up out,” said Sarah, who is also paying off an overdraft she had to use.<\/p>\n

“When we run out of money we have to beg,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But it’s humiliating. Craig got punched the other night. They went to give him money, and he was punched.”<\/p>\n

Town councilor, Steven Bletsoe, who is helping to organize the open-doors facility, said they have been stunned by the reaction to their appeal for volunteers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe asked for 12 volunteers to cover three shifts overnight, and we now have 50 to 60 people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly never anticipated it being like this. There are barbers offering to come in and give free haircuts; people offering to cook; businesses offering food; Starbucks is giving us coffee; and McDonalds is giving us 20 burgers and fries.”<\/p>\n

Steve and Lem said the Floorspace overnight facility, run by housing support service Gwalia on the Bridgend Industrial Estate, has only 10 places.<\/p>\n

The aim is for the church to be an overspill area until the cold spell passes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere the church comes in is that we have been doing church for so long, but we have stopped being the church,\u201d said Lem, who is originally from Zimbabwe, but lived in the US for 12 years before coming to Wales.<\/p>\n

He said Compassion, on Nolton Street, Bridgend, has two rooms available; one for men and one for women. A team will also go out to ensure all rough sleepers know the service is available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Abby Bolter Nine people took shelter on the first night! Fears that rough sleepers may die in sub-zero temperatures have prompted a church to open its doors at night, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[170,1,4],"tags":[268,291,77,89,290],"class_list":{"0":"post-1921","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phpp","8":"category-uncategorized","9":"category-world-missions","10":"tag-268","11":"tag-lem-turner","12":"tag-turner","13":"tag-wales","14":"tag-wmm","15":"entry"},"title_es":"La Iglesia ofrece a los Durmientes \u00e1speros un lugar para quedarse debido al temor de que puedan morir en un clima helado","content_es":"

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Por<\/span> Abby Bolter<\/strong><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/article>\r\n

\u00a1Nueve personas se refugiaron en la primera noche!<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nLos temores de que durmientes duros puedan morir a temperaturas bajo cero han llevado a una iglesia a abrir sus puertas por la noche, y nueve personas ya se han refugiado. Con el factor de enfriamiento del viento establecido para hacer que las temperaturas se sientan tan bajas como -12 \u00b0 C durante la noche esta semana, la Iglesia del Centro de la Ciudad de Bridgend ha pedido voluntarios, mantas y alimentos para los necesitados. El pastor Lem Turner, de la Iglesia de la Compasi\u00f3n, dijo que hab\u00edan visto un aumento en el n\u00famero de personas sin hogar y creen que las provisiones existentes se ver\u00e1n desbordadas, dejando a algunos fuera de combate. \"Colocamos las publicaciones en Facebook temprano el lunes por la ma\u00f1ana y recibimos una excelente respuesta de nuestra comunidad\", dijo. \"Estamos buscando voluntarios, cualquiera que pueda ayudar; y podemos expandir esto a medida que vemos la necesidad dentro de la comunidad \".\" Vamos a tener algunas mantas aqu\u00ed para la gente, un comedor de beneficencia, tal vez ofrecer una pel\u00edcula o dos, y un lugar c\u00e1lido y seguro para que la gente dormir.\" \"No creo que nadie en esta comunidad deba estar durmiendo porque no estamos seguros de si pasar\u00e1n la noche\". Entre los que llegaron del fr\u00edo el lunes por la noche, estaban una pareja, Sarah y Craig ( no son sus nombres reales). Las edades, 39 y 51, han estado durmiendo en las puertas de las tiendas y en una caravana, que no tiene calefacci\u00f3n ni luz. Creen que hasta 30 a 40 personas duermen regularmente en Bridgend. Sarah, que huy\u00f3 de una abusada expareja, hace todo lo posible por controlar un problema card\u00edaco, que le ha dejado un marcapasos, mientras Craig intenta encontrar trabajo. Dijeron que el consejo no los alojar\u00e1 ya que no han estado en el \u00e1rea el tiempo suficiente. Los dos han venido del pa\u00eds del oeste, pero juntan entre \u00a3 50 y \u00a3 60 una vez a la semana para pasar la noche en una c\u00e1lida cama y desayuno. \"Han limitado los beneficios de Craig, por lo que solo gana \u00a3 40 por semana. Todav\u00eda est\u00e1n tomando el recargo del alquiler\", dijo Sarah, quien tambi\u00e9n est\u00e1 pagando un sobregiro que tuvo que usar. \"Cuando nos quedemos sin dinero tenemos que suplicar\", dijo. \"Pero es humillante. Craig recibi\u00f3 un pu\u00f1etazo la otra noche. Fueron a darle dinero y lo golpearon\". El concejal, Steven Bletsoe, quien est\u00e1 ayudando a organizar las instalaciones de puertas abiertas, dijo que se sorprendieron por la reacci\u00f3n a su llamado a voluntarios. \"Pedimos 12 voluntarios para cubrir tres turnos durante la noche, y ahora tenemos de 50 a 60 personas\", dijo. \"Honestamente, nunca anticip\u00e9 que fuera as\u00ed. Hay peluqueros ofreciendo venir y dar cortes de pelo gratis; personas que ofrecen cocinar; negocios que ofrecen comida; Starbucks nos est\u00e1 dando caf\u00e9; y McDonalds nos est\u00e1 dando 20 hamburguesas y papas fritas \". Steve y Lem dijeron que la instalaci\u00f3n de Floorspace durante la noche, administrada por el servicio de asistencia de vivienda Gwalia en el Pol\u00edgono Industrial Bridgend, tiene solo 10 lugares. El objetivo es que la iglesia sea un \u00e1rea desbordada hasta que el \"Cuando la iglesia entra es porque hemos estado haciendo iglesia por mucho tiempo, pero hemos dejado de ser la iglesia\", dijo Lem, quien es originario de Zimbabwe, pero vivi\u00f3 en los EE. UU. durante 12 a\u00f1os antes de venir a Wales. Dijo que Compassion, en Nolton Street, Bridgend, tiene dos habitaciones disponibles, una para hombres y otra para mujeres. Un equipo tambi\u00e9n saldr\u00e1 para asegurar que todos los durmientes rudos sepan que el servicio est\u00e1 disponible.","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/02\/Be-the-Church.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Ar-uZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}