PAWHUSKA, Okla. — Tony Rye recommends Osage County Coordinated Community Response Team to anyone who falls on hard times.
"These guys are awesome. They are here to help. If you need help, please reach out," Rye said, tearfully.
Rye credits its warming station at First Baptist Church Pawhuska for saving him from freezing to death over the weekend. Senior Pastor, Justin Turney, said he and Osage County CCRT opened the doors to help people like Rye.
"His spouse passed away late last year. He's been by himself and having a lot of struggles and hardships. He came into the shelter because he needed a warm place to stay. I mean, his house was 32 degrees, him and his dog," said Turney.
"She's my family. It's the only family I have close now," said Rye of his Chihuahua and Dachshund mix.
Rye and seven others took shelter at the church. Corrie O'Banion, coordinator at Osage County CCRT, spearheaded the creation of the safe haven turned stepping stone.
"We didn't put a single person just back out on the street or in inappropriately heated housing," O'Banion said.
The volunteers used the weekend to help guests breakdown barriers to housing solutions. They worked on finding transportation, funding security deposits, and filling out applications.
Rye, for instance, had an unfinished application with the Osage County Housing Authority that the team helped complete.
"Tony moved into his apartment yesterday," said O'Banion. "Someone brought a load of furniture from Bartlesville and moved it inside for him. He got his dog, her rabies shot. He's all the way set up in his brand new apartment," O'Banion added.
O'Banion said other guests were connected to temporary solutions like hotels or shelters.
"All eight people that came through the warming shelter have been helped out in more ways than just finding warmth and shelter in the cold. They were able to help connect them with jobs. They were able to help them with housing," Turney said.
To learn more about Coordinated Community Response Teams, click here.
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