COLDWATER, MI — With sub-zero temperatures forecast, the Coach Eby Youth and Family Center will remain open 24 hours as a warming shelter for as long as needed, Director Rachelle Everett said Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Since Jan. 17, nearly two dozen people have sought refuge in the gym at 89 W. Chicago as daytime temperatures dipped below 30 degrees.
Everett initially planned to close on Wednesday, but with lows expected to reach -9 degrees on Saturday, the shelter will stay open and reassess daily.
“We’ll keep going as long as it’s necessary,” Everett said. “We’re watching the forecast every day.”
Volunteer Coordinator Pete Ash reported that up to nine people were staying overnight on cots, while others stopped in to warm up or eat meals prepared by staff and volunteers using donated funds.
Heating the 108-year-old former Armory and providing three meals a day adds high cost for the nonprofit, which relies on grants. There are none for the warming center.
Everett stressed the need for volunteers, especially for daytime shifts, and donations of warm clothing, socks, gloves, and duffel bags. “Some of their bags are threadbare before we send them back out,” she said.
Facing the cold: Stories from the Eby Center
At a table near the gym wall, Carl and Jodi Koch shared coffee and snacks. Married for 26 years, they’ve been homeless for three—living in hotels when they can, but mostly in their car.
With no shelter for couples, they often sleep in their car outside Walmart when the weather allows. “But he won’t leave me,” Jodi said quietly.
On nights like these, the Eby Center is their lifeline. “If it wasn’t for this place, I don’t know what we’d do,” Jodi said.
Coldwater has always been home, but high rent and job losses left them without options.
Jodi recently had open-heart surgery, covered by Medicaid. “They replaced a valve,” she explained. “It was a birth defect I didn’t know about until my thirties.”
Carl, who lost his job, is caring for her and now struggles to find work.
They rely on help from Jodi’s mom and stretch every dollar for gas and food.
“It’s not anyone’s fault,” Carl said. “God gave me a challenge. So we fight—one day at a time.”
He admits his own health issues and learning disabilities make life harder. “But we keep going,” he said.
Across the room, James Vaughan, 50, sits in a chair. He lives at the Genesis men’s shelter but comes to the Eby Center for a change of scenery.
A closed-head injury from an attack in 1997 left him with challenges. “I work when I can, but it’s hard,” he said.
After his camper burned in 2021, Vaughan has bounced between cities, living on disability checks and occasional jobs.
“Four, five years I’ve been bouncing from Kalamazoo to Battle Creek and down to Elkhart,” he said.
How to help
Contact Don Reid, dReid@USATodayCo.Com
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Here’s how you can help a warming center during the cold snap
Reporting by Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter / Coldwater Daily Reporter
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