WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The unrelenting summer heat has South Florida residents seeking shade from the sweltering temperatures. However, for those who don't have a home, finding shelter is never a given.
Everything that Katrina Epps owns is piled in a cart that she pushes around the streets of West Palm Beach.
"It's so hard staying on the streets," she said.
For about eight months she's been homeless. Most nights she says she sleeps in front of St. Ann Place, a homeless resource center located along North Dixie Highway. For her, the danger is real.
"One day, this girl, she thought I was somebody else, and she woke me up out of my sleep, fighting me, thinking I was somebody else," Epps said. "That's how dangerous it is."
In recent weeks there's been an added element of concern, dangerously hot conditions.
It's a constant struggle to find shade and water, trying to stay out of the summer sun and hydrated.
"We get water from the park. You either sometimes get lucky to get a bottle of water from St. Ann's, and you fill it up all day at the park, that's the only way," Epps said. "Sometimes that's not even cold water, and that's not guaranteed the water had just gone out."
John Pescosolido, who runs St. Ann Place, said they can only do so much to meet a critical need.
"Once we close at 4 p.m., they're back out on the streets with no relief," Pescosolido said. "So, they're on the streets from 4 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. the next morning, suffering in the heat."
Francky Pierre-Paul with the organization "A Different Shade of Love" is also helping meet that need. He is setting up cooling stations at Currie Park. He hands out water, food and cooling rags.
"The heat index is hot, and we have a warning for everybody," Pierre-Paul said. "But we tend to forget those who are sleeping on the streets, sleeping on the concrete we walk on every single day."
Every single day in this scorcher of a summer, Epps' struggle on the streets continues.
"Especially when it's been hot, it's even harder," she said.
