FORT PIERCE, Fla. — In Fort Pierce, a cold weather shelter was scheduled to open Tuesday night at the Percy Peek Gym on Avenue D to help people get in need of a shower, a hot meal and a safe place to sleep.
The shelter opens whenever temperatures hover at or under the low 40s. It’s open tonight and tomorrow for anyone in the Fort Pierce area with nowhere else to go to ride out the cold.
It’s a welcomed sight for people like John Reese
“I just took a shower,” said Reese. “I might want to do it again.”
Reese has been coming to this cold-weather shelter for the last three years after he was evicted from his home.
City Commissioner Curtis Johnson said the shelter began after a fire in an abandoned home.
“Unfortunately, we've had situations in our city where the un-sheltered took it upon themselves to try to keep warm,” said Johnson. “It caused a big house fire. Amber was spreading throughout our city, and it was just an unsafe and inopportune environment.”
Pastor Hazel Hoylman has been setting up shelters like these for more than a decade. But has been putting on this one at Percy Peek Gym for the last three years
“Love means to me to give unconditionally,” said Hoylman. “There’s always a need.”
She said the shelter opens up at 5 p.m. and stays open through 8 a.m. Those who come to the shelter are given a cot, a couple of hot meals, a care package with clean clothes and more.
“The message I want to get across to them is, is that the cold weather shelter is good, but we need a shelter in St Lucie County,” said Hoylman. “One that families can come to, one that single moms and single men can come to. And we need a shelter in St Lucie County, something that can help them become more sustainable and where they can get back into the community again.”
Hoylman said it’s not just those experiencing homelessness that utilize the shelter. She said it’s open for any and everyone in need.
