By Tribune Staff
KNOXVILLE, TN — He uses the hand warmers and the mylar blankets to cover and warm the people he finds along the road. He can’t get them in the car and to the warming centers until he can get them warmed up enough to climb in his old blazer. If he doesn’t get them to the center…they will die.
One man has already been found, frozen on the sidewalk, dead in his sleeping bag.
Mike Wrinkle has been out for days, looking for the unhoused. He knows the time to get them into shelter is before the snow and frigid artic air settles in. He knows where to look. For years he has worked the city and county roads. He finds the young and old, the elderly, and the mentally ill and takes them to shelter. On Sunday he found a young mother with her seven-year-old child, shivering and standing on the road. Picking them up, he takes them to the Magnolia Ave. United Methodist Church, one of four warming centers that opened to receive those in danger of dying. There they are welcomed, given warm clothes, a meal and a hot drink, and a cot upon which to rest, safe from the snowstorm.
The centers are open all week with temperatures expected to plunge, the relentless weather will last until the weekend. People are trying so hard to help. The centers are being supplied by community members and church groups. Everything donated is being used. More is needed.
These centers will be open till the Friday January 19, but donations are being accepted until Monday, February 5 in order to be ready for future frigid events as the winter continues. It’s an effort to save lives.
In Knoxville 169 were found dead on the streets in 2023, that’s the ones they know of.
Donations are greatly needed and can be sent to cash app at: $Senator Vivian or PayPal doctorshipe@yahoo.com
Items can also be shipped to or dropped off to: C.O.N.N.E.C.T Ministries, 3615 MLK Ave., Knoxville, TN 37914.
