CLARKSVILLE, Ind. — Paul Stensrud grabbed a stack of coats out of his storage unit in Clarksville and loaded it onto Grace, an old SWAT van he converted into a mobile outreach vehicle.
"On nights like this, we can just pray for the best," he said.
But Stensrud is doing more than just praying this Monday. As the director of Exit 0 Homeless Outreach in Southern Indiana, Stensrud has a heart for the homeless community and hands that take action, spending his Monday preparing supplies for the bitter chill expected Monday evening.
"We've got our blankets," he said. "We also got some basic snack bags that we will give out to these folks."
His teams have been preparing for weeks ahead of this dip in the temperatures, and they've been hitting the streets meeting with people and urging them to find shelter if they're comfortable spending the night. But Stensrud and other outreach volunteers know many people choose not to even in the snow or freezing cold for a wide variety of reasons, so for those that plan on staying outside, they're encouraging them to stay safe.
"We're kind of making sure they're equipped with hoodies, coats, layering them up for the cold, pretty much the basic winter gear," he said.
Across the river in Louisville, others are doing the same, like Jeff Gill, the founder of Hip Hop Cares. Gill said this year has been more challenging after many of the familiar spots where the homeless would stay have been cleared out. Gill said volunteers now have to track down more people who have been scattered around the region, many worried they'll be told to move once again.
"It takes more time, which means we reach less people and I guess less people get help and that's the biggest problem," Gill said. "These folks are here 365 days a year. It needs to be a 365-day-a-year conversation."
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