TULSA, Okla — Tulsa has just experienced one of the coldest arctic blasts, with many people struggling to find a warm place to stay.
2 News' Isabel Flores visited the Rose Bowl, where One Hope set up a warming shelter for those looking for a place to stay inside—away from freezing temperatures.
Freddie Rankins is one of those guests at the Rose Bowl.
He said he was sleeping outside in a tent before he found out about the warming shelter.
“It was really, really, really cold, like it was freezing all the way to my bones,” he said.
Carla Pinson knows how life-threatening the cold can be, and it’s why she also made her way to the Rose Bowl.
"I know people that lost feet because they got frostbite in this kind of weather," she said. "This kind of deal here, it gives them somewhere to go to get out of it.”
Josh Sanders is a director of outreach with the Tulsa Day Center, a close partner with One Hope.
He said the shelter has reached more than 250 guests- meaning the warming shelter has gone over capacity.
Still, he said teams are making sure everyone has a place to stay.
Sanders said that in addition to a hotline, there are other ways organizations are teaming up to distribute resources.
“Housing Solutions operates what's called the cold weather outreach chat," he said. "They operate a big chat with about 60 to 80 people in there that are all communicating and talking about what we're doing on the ground out there in the field.”
He said that way, everyone knows who needs what and where.
Sanders said he used to be homeless himself and knows how crucial it is for people to receive all the help they can get.
“I really want to stress how bad, as a community, we need something like this," he said.
And guests are more than happy to have access to it.
“Everybody is happy to have this," said Carla Pinson. You can see all the happy people.”
“I think it’s wonderful for these people to do this stuff," said Freddie Rankins. "It’s wonderful for the community, for the people outside in this weather.”
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