Patrick Davidson's hand quivered slightly as he showed people his cell phone Thursday evening.
A photo of a house being torn down appeared on the phone screen.
Davidson said the house was where he'd been camping until recently during cold nights. He had considered himself lucky to have shelter of any sort.
Since the beginning of the month, Davidson said, he's been staying at the Jefferson City Room at the Inn (JCRATI).
"I've been here every night. (Before that) on the street," he said. "I was in one of the houses that they just tore down. It's already down."
He was one of about a dozen people who found shelter Thursday night at JCRATI.
The number of people seeking warmth from overnight cold who are approaching Jefferson City nonprofits appears to be growing. Volunteers gathered data about homelessness during the past week in the annual Point in Time Count. Data from the count was not available as of Friday.
This winter, people seeking overnight shelter at the Salvation Army of Jefferson City have numbered between nine and 14 each night, according to Center of Hope Director Brian Vogeler. That's in addition to the 31 people the Center of Hope (the Salvation Army's shelter) is already providing a roof for.
JCRATI is sheltering more than 10 people a night, according to Stefani Thompson, the Cole County community organizer for Central Missouri Community Action.
Thompson, who is also an organizer for JCRATI, said word is getting out about the emergency low-barrier shelter. Last winter, the shelter served three to five people each night.
JCRATI is a collaboration -- an interfaith community model shelter -- that offers protection from winter weather inside a portion of the building housing Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri. Leadership at Catholic Charities allows the organization to use some of its office space as a shelter.
The shelter opened for the winter on Jan. 1, Thompson said. It was only open a month during late winter in 2022 to assist the Salvation Army of Jefferson City with overflow.
Keeping warm
Justin Schaffer, who stayed at JCRATI on Thursday night, said he is a native of Jefferson City, but has occasionally bounced back and forth between Missouri and Minnesota. Because of his time in Minnesota, he said, he doesn't feel awfully threatened by cold weather.
"I do what I have to to keep warm. I'm very grateful and blessed (for shelter and food)," Schaffer said.
The Salvation Army Center of Hope shelter seems to remain at capacity. And each winter, the Salvation Army offers cots for people to sleep on when the temperature outside is forecast to be below freezing overnight. However, the nonprofit was forced to suspend its program during the COVID-19 pandemic because of requirements intended to keep people socially distanced. It has since re-opened its "Cold Cots" program.
Also, Thompson said, the Salvation Army cannot accept a number of homeless people who may have been banned or kicked out of its shelter for various reasons.
"We can house the ones who have been kicked out or banned," Thompson said. "It works nicely as they are able to send people our way, and we can send people to them. We supplement each other."
"This year, we were ready. We intentionally opened in January and will run through mid-March, depending on weather," Thompson added.
Volunteers bus people from the Missouri River Regional Library, which is a daytime warming station, to the shelter each day about 6:30 p.m. Donors provide meals for clients each night and breakfast in the morning. Donors pay for, cook and serve the meals using SignUPGenius.com. Then volunteers return clients to the library or the Salvation Army about 6:30 a.m. the next day.
"We are open every night during the season no matter the temperatures," Thompson said. "And the No. 1 reason is the amazing volunteers that are at the shelter each night. They make our friends feel welcomed and loved.
"It's truly an amazing experience. When I volunteer, I never want to leave."
JCRATI has about 175 steady volunteers. Each night, it uses nine, which includes a lead volunteer for each shift, and two regular volunteers.
"All of our leads have volunteered before," Thompson said. "Other volunteers are comfortable volunteering because they have leads on each shift."
The space JCRATI uses inside the Catholic Charities building is a much-in-demand room. It's large and spacious, according to Shelly Hittner, a committee member at JCRATI.
"Everything gets put away at the end of the night. And it's as if we were never even here," Hittner said. "We clear the room completely out. We just leave out the tables and chairs, which belong to Catholic Charities, of course."
Checking in
A phone began to ring late Thursday, breaking up the conversation in the room.
Mariah Luebbering, chair of a JCRATI committee, explained the nonprofit has set up a phone that people may call if they are looking for shelter, or if they are trying to find shelter for someone else. That number is 573-298-3718.
The caller Thursday night was the Jefferson City Police Department, which wished to bring two men to the shelter for the night. About five minutes later, officers arrived with two men who brought their belongings.
The shelter limits what people can bring into the sleeping area, but allows clients to place their items in black (for privacy) trash bags, which are labeled and locked in a closet. Clients retrieve their property before they leave the next morning. And they must leave the next morning.
Before clients enter the sleeping area, volunteers use handheld metal detectors to check them for weapons.
Another place to go
Because the Center of Hope is a family shelter, which contains children, it has to limit who may stay there, Vogeler said.
The Center of Hope is a dry shelter, he continued.
"So there is no showing up under the influence or anything like that," he said.
But, he added, shelter staff are willing to waive some rules preventing people who are intoxicated (or who have been belligerent with staff in the past) from staying the night, "if they'll come in and lie down."
The center promotes recovery. People who enter the shelter program and are housed at the shelter have made a commitment to remain clean, Vogeler said.
"Trying to protect our residents, and knowing they are working through some of those issues -- it's not always the best to have one side of the building under the influence while the other side of the building is sober and clean," Vogeler said. "They want to be sober and clean. And they are working on it. That's why we're here -- to help them get that help that they need."
But, with some behaviors, there are no exceptions.
"Sex offenders -- whether that's with children or adults -- just because it is a family shelter, and we have children and vulnerable women ... it's been our long-standing policy that we don't allow to stay here," Vogeler said. "And, most of them know that. Most of them are OK with that."
Justin Schaffer is grateful for Room at the Inn providing a hot meal and warm place to stay on cold winter nights. (Ken Barnes/News Tribune)
Room at the Inn located at Catholic Charities has a capacity to provide 15 people with a warm place to sleep on cold Missouri winter nights. (Ken Barnes/News Tribune)