Heat waves are coming and the homeless have limited options

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The air temperature will be above 90 degrees every day this week and with the humidity at some points over 100, which can prove dangerous for many people.

We always worry about the elderly, pets and people who perform manual labor outside but those who actually live outside might be forgotten.

In Bowling Green, there’s a good amount of people without consistent shelter and at times like these, it’s extremely tough on them.

News 40 spoke to some folks at the Wellness Connection about the concerns of homelessness while in the high heat. The Wellness Connection is a non-profit run by LifeSkills, Inc. that functions off of “peer support”, with the working staff full of people who the Wellness Connection hopes to serve such as homeless individuals and people with mental health issues.

The station sat down with Amy Hinton, a coordinator with Wellness Connection, who said a struggle for many transient people is that they have to keep their belongings with them or close by because theft is a real threat when living on the street, and Hinton told the station that not many places will allow the homeless the bring in their things.

Hinton said they don’t push services on anyone, but they want everyone to know they’re there if needed. The coordinator told us that many people come in just to sit and chat as well as enjoy small meals they sometimes provide from Tuesday to Thursday.

News 40 also talked to a name named Scotty who had been homeless since 2015 but recently just found housing this month, and he said the facility has helped him greatly since he started taking advantage of their services they offer. He’s been a volunteer at the facility and using his experience to help others in the same situation and he said if it wasn’t for the Wellness Connection offering him a safe space, his life would look very different.