'You guys are amazing'

DOVER — With temperatures expected to be in the upper 50s this weekend, area houseless residents say they're looking forward to a short reprieve from recent frigid weather and snowfall.

They say the warm weather will accompany their hearts, which have been newly warmed by two Dover churches that operated as overnight warming centers several times in the past few weeks. Twenty-nine people sought shelter at St. George's Maronite Church during the most recent one on Wednesday, a windy night where temperatures peaked at 13 degrees.

"I just found out about this place yesterday from SOS (Recovery), thank goodness," Jessica Covino, 33, said Thursday morning while getting ready to leave St. George’s. “I’ve been homeless for a year and I’ve never been homeless before and it’s horrifying. I never thought I’d be in this position ever. It’s just not for me... Enough is enough. I’m going to rehab and I’m going to do great things there."

The Knights of Columbus has overseen an overnight warming center at St. George's Maronite Church on Chapel Street several times in the past few weeks. St. John's Methodist Church on Cataract Avenue hosted a similar one this past Sunday.

The centers have been staffed by some of the 100-plus volunteers who attended recent trainings conducted by the Integrated Delivery Network and Strafford County.

The churches have operated as walk-in overnight warming centers with authorization from the city. Dover, Rochester and Somersworth have each created special approval processes that allow area property owners and organizations to temporarily use non-residential spaces to assist people during cold weather events.

No churches in Rochester or Somersworth have yet requested permits to replicate what has happened in Dover, according to city officials. Nor has any of the cities opened and operated any overnight centers of their own since Dover did so within its McConnell Center on Dec. 19 as part of a test run for the church centers.

The cities’ municipal buildings are available as warming centers during their normal business hours.

People sheltered at St. George's this week said they hope more churches, other entities and area municipalities step up to provide overnight assistance.

Many left St. George’s Thursday not knowing where they would be sleeping next.

"I came over here and they welcomed me and fed me good and they gave us blankets and I made a little place for myself in the corner and went to sleep,” said Covino. “It was nice to have a warm roof over my head with a clean bathroom and good food. When you are homeless, that’s hard."

The Knights of Columbus was unable to continue the warming shelter at St. George’s overnight Thursday “due to other commitments," said Chancellor Dave Abbott.

Abbott said he takes the mission to heart and is grateful for the support their warming center efforts have received along the way.

"When we first got permission to do this, we needed a CO2 sensor to meet the code,” he said. “I went to Home Depot and they are $60, so I asked the manager if we could get one half price. I gave the $30 and she said ‘I don’t need your money.’ She then grabbed some buckets and took me over to hats, gloves, footwarmers, bottled water, snacks, etc. It ended up being over $600 worth of stuff. All four of us (who) went in are crying at this point."

Covino hugged and thanked Abbott as she left the warming center Thursday.

“You guys are amazing for doing this and I applaud you and thank you,” Covino said to Abbott. “I know you take time out of your life to do this and you stayed up all night making sure everything was OK and you are still going out after this to try to get more resources to help. You are really someone who cares and after being homeless for a year, I didn’t think anyone did."

Kim Jennison, owner of Broadway Laundromat, is another person who has helped the sheltering operations this winter. She cleans and folds the linens, sleeping bags, used at the shelter and returns them to volunteers so they are ready to be used again.

A construction worker in the area also stopped in Thursday and gave Abbott a $100 bill in hopes that it could help.

Tory Jennison, the director of population health for the Integrated Delivery Network’s Seacoast region, helped transport people to The Doorway as the warming center broke down for the day Thursday.

The Doorway is a statewide series of hubs and service providers designed to make it easier for people with substance use disorder to access resources and treatment. The Seacoast’s hub is in Dover, and is overseen by Wentworth-Douglas Hospital across the street from the Central Avenue hospital.

Tory Jennison expressed disappointment Thursday there aren’t more concrete and plentiful overnight options for people who need shelter.

“People hope there will be somewhere,” she said. "It seems right now, prayers are doing a lot more than hopes.”