- April 23, 2024
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The cold prompted The Sheltering Tree to open 17 nights in December 2010. By contrast, it was not cold enough to open at all in December 2009.
Lee Willman, chairman of the board of the Flagler County Family Assistance Center, or The Sheltering Tree, hears stories.
“I had a guy and his family who drove up in their BMW that they now live in,” she said. The family’s house was foreclosed on. Willman speculated it might have been a leased vehicle, and, “Who knows when the lease is up? ... He’s probably wishing he bought a van,” she said.
Everyone has a story at the shelter, which opens whenever the overnight temperature is forecast to be lower than 40 degrees.
“There’s a single woman who comes with her young son,” Willman said. “She works as a housekeeper at the Hammock Resort, and her hours have been cut in half.”
A man showed up who had a job picking cabbages in the fields.
“People are feeling the pinch,” Willman said. “Gas is going up, but their pay is not going up.”
On Christmas Eve, Willman was at the shelter, which is operated out of the First United Methodist Church at 205 N. Pine St., Bunnell.
“One guy said, ‘You gotta come out. There’s a lady crying in her car.’” Willman went out to the parking lot and asked her how she could help.
“She had just been laid off from her job,” Willman said. “Her mother lived with her and her child, and they just didn’t have any food.”
The shelter prepares meals for the community at 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday night and also has other food available for people to take with them, so they’ll have something in their cupboards when they return after the free meal. (Some guests have homes but can’t pay their utility bills.)
The shelter was open 40 nights early in 2010 winter. It was not open at all in December 2009. This December, the cold weather prompted the doors to open 17 nights — almost half the total of last winter already. There were 248 guests in those 17 days.
The guests at the shelter also help each other, Willman said. One woman brought in a keyboard she had been given as a Christmas present and played songs for everyone at the shelter.
“She’s someone who doesn’t have a lot but is bringing things to the people who have less than she does,” Willman said. “I worry. I say, ‘Don’t you need this?’ She said, ‘No, I have enough.’”
GET INVOLVED
The Flagler County Family Assistance Center, also known as The Sheltering Tree, is open for a free meal at 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays, and overnight when the weather is forecast to dip below 40 degrees. It is located at 205 N. Pine St., Bunnell.
Thanks to donations from organizations around the county, the shelter has had enough food so far, but supplies are dwindling.
In addition to food donations, the shelter also needs jeans and shoes. It also needs volunteers who are willing to stay overnight and keep watch. To get involved, visit www.facebook.com/flaglershelter, e-mail [email protected] or call 597-2774.
