January 04, 2024 – I was driving down South Kanawha Street on my way to work a few winters ago when I saw a man standing on the corner with a sign asking for help.

I only had $5 in cash in my car, but I rolled down the window and handed it over. I wouldn’t know the man if he walked by me today. I can’t tell you the color of his skin, his height or his age. I can, however, tell you he was smiling and grateful for the money that wouldn’t even cover the cost of a large coffee at Starbucks.

That memory has stayed with me, as has a conversation from just a few hours later. I’m not sure what prompted it, but someone said they never gave money to people on the streets. “They’re just going to buy drugs or alcohol with it,” were the exact words.

My response was, “Maybe. Or maybe it’s the last $5 he needed to pay his power bill. He asked for help, and I did what I could.”

Back in the summer, I was driving through the same area and paused at the site of a man standing on the corner, holding a “homeless” sign.

I was in traffic and couldn’t stop immediately, but I turned my car around and drove back for a better look.

It was someone I knew.

He didn’t need money for his power bill or gas for his car. He had neither, as he sought shelter where he could and relied on the kindness of strangers to fill his belly.

It wasn’t much, but I offered a few dollars and a burger from a nearby restaurant. And as the hot summer days gave way to crisp fall air and to the chill of December, I stopped from time-to-time to help how I could.

I most recently saw him just before Christmas. Though always smiling and friendly, that day he was also excited and hopeful as he told me he was finally in a place of his own.

“I’m blessed,” he said, as he hugged me and wished me a Merry Christmas.

Not everyone can say that, though.

I recently read about a gentleman presumed to have died of hypothermia during a cold night.

The day I found out my friend had found a home I was going to tell him about the Beckley Warming Center just up the road on Heber Street.

The center, a community partnership between the United Way of Southern West Virginia, Beckley Community United Methodist Church, Appalachian Regional Healthcare and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, takes in those in need on nights when the temperature and/or wind chill reaches 15 degrees.

ARH Regional Community Development Manager Kelly Elkins said the healthcare system pledged $4,000 and St. Stephen’s donated $1,000 to help fund the center, located at the Methodist church.

“Improving and promoting the well-being of our community is part of ARH’s mission,” she said, adding “community” is an all-encompassing word. “Those experiencing homelessness are just as much a part of our community as anyone else.”

Those taking refuge in the center are offered cots for sleeping as well as food, scarves, toboggans and gloves.

“It’s a safe, warm place to spend the night and get some food,” Elkins said. “It could save lives.”