CLEVELAND — Most of Ohio is bracing for a weekend snowstorm. It’s coming on top of the bitter cold temperatures we’ve been experiencing. At The City Mission’s Laura’s Home on Cleveland’s West Side, fresh linens are being put on the beds for cold weather overflow. Thursday night, all the beds were spoken for. News 5 Anchor Katie Ussin went to speak with The City Mission CEO Linda Uveges, who had some heartbreaking stories to share.
“Today we received a call from a mom who stayed at a gas station last night with her baby,” she told Katie. There are also mothers staying in their cars with their children to try and escape the cold because they simply have nowhere else to go. Uveges said The City Mission gets calls like those every day and never turns anyone away.
“They’re able to come in here and feel safe, warm, a hot meal, cared for,” she said. “Blankets, everything they need” are available to them. Women also get a bag of toiletries, a private locker, and a shower. Uveges said the goal isn’t just to provide somewhere safe and warm but also to offer dignified accommodations for the women’s and children’s shelter.
Laura’s Home has 166 beds to serve women and children in crisis. It’s been at capacity for more than seven years. They recently remodeled to accommodate overflow during severe weather like this.
“There’s so much we take for granted,” Uveges said. “I wake up in the morning and there’s heat on in my house and I’m able to get ready for work…But to know that for a mom and her children, she doesn’t know the next day where they’re going to sleep. How is she going to navigate bitter-cold weather and temperatures? And these moms, they love their kids and they’re trying their very best to make ends meet and when temperatures like this happen here in Cleveland we know that puts them at high risk and danger so we want to get them out of the weather and get them in here to be able to care for them.”
Since Laura’s Home is at capacity, the women and children staying at the overflow shelter will still receive help. There’s also a compassionate handoff process to another site that has openings. Either way, The City Mission will continue to connect these women and children to resources to help them find permanent, safe housing.
Laura’s Home can always use donations of new toiletries and linens. You can learn how you can help here.
