City’s cooling centers offer respite from summer heat
By Ashley Luthans
St. Joseph residents have been battling extreme heat recently, but community resources can help provide some relief.
After last week’s heat and humidity, heat index values, or “feels-like” temperature, shot up to 112 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday.
High temperatures can cause heat-related illness without proper precautions.
“Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors,” the National Weather Service said in a heat advisory release on Monday.
For those who don’t have a cool place to stay permanently, several cooling centers around St. Joseph can help people get out of the sun.
St. Joseph cooling center locations are Carnegie Library, Downtown Library, East Hills Library, Rolling Hills Library, The Salvation Army and Washington Park Library. In Savannah, there is a cooling center at Rolling Hills Library.
Misty Snider, the youth services department manager at the East Hills Library, said the library is a place for families to not only escape the sun, but to have a fun time.
“We have lots of seating and tables and we’ve got a play area for kids,” Snider said. “So it’s somewhere to go and have something to do. You don’t have to spend any money, you can just come and sit and enjoy the air-conditioning.”
Emergency shelters in St. Joseph are The Salvation Army and the YWCA Shelter.
Maj. Ronald Key at The Salvation Army said he thinks it’s important to provide the cooling center and shelter to the St. Joseph community.
“We see so many people in need, whether it’s homeless people or maybe it’s elderly people that may not have an air conditioner in their homes, they’re trying to find a place to cool off,” Key said. “So I think it’s important that all of us have that opportunity to help other people and try to meet their needs, whether it’s food, clothing, shelter, just a place to cool off, whatever that looks like for them. So I think that’s important that we do that.”
Key went on to say how people can help support those going to The Salvation Army.
“We always take donations such as personal hygiene items, blankets, sheets, pillows, towels; anything they could think of that they probably need for their own survival,” Key said. “So there’s several different ways people can help. I mean, they can just give a monetary donation or they can make it specific to the shelter. Either way, it’ll help people.”
