Motor City Mitten Mission volunteers brave the cold to help those on Detroit streets
DETROIT (FOX 2) - With temperatures well below freezing, half a foot of snow, and a bitter wind chill, just going outside for a few minutes can take the wind out of you. Now imagine you have to stay outside.
Volunteers with the Motor City Mitten Mission are working to help the men and women who have no place to call home by handing out boots, hats, gloves, scarves, coats, and even food.
The mission does outreach seven days a week to help the homeless by bringing them food and supplies. This week, their work is especially important.
"They don't have anything. Their stuff by this time, either they've lost it or it's been cleaned up off the streets. Quite often they'll be laying on the street with nothing. It's pretty heartbreaking," said executive director Gail Marlow.
During the cold snap, the Motor City Mitten Mission is urging people to go to a shelter - but that's not easy.
"A lot of the people we work with, they're chronically homeless they have a mental illness or severe addiction. They simply don't want to get off of the streets and go into a shelter," said Marlow.
Matt Webster is volunteering but he knows exactly what the people he's helping ar going through as he's been homeless since June.
"I worked, had good jobs. Unfortunately, I was in a terrible accident, I burned up my income," said Webster.
Marlow and her small army of volunteers are just asking you to keep this in mind: these are people out there.
"Recognize that there are people that need help and that to throw judgment out the window when it's 8 degrees or zero degrees outside, when somebody doesn't have anything, to help them out," said Marlow.
It's not just the warmth but human contact goes a long way for people like Webster.
"Like this morning I had to go into this pocket to get some change but it made a dollar. These little changes make a difference, they add up. Maybe somebody can't donate a hundred dollars, 50 dollars, 25 dollars, but doesn't everybody have a change jar at home?" Webster said.