The Director of Safety at Haven for Hope said the organization that helps people who are homeless stands ready to keep people safe even in the extreme heat. “What we're doing now is giving plenty of water to all our folks in the transformational side, also in the courtyard," Art Vela said.
Vela said over the past few years, they have been able to add more shade structures and he believes lots of ventilation is a key to success.
“We have all our fans with breezers are working. We have Porta-Coolers also working. We have neck bands that we are giving to our folks,” Vela said.
While a lot of space at Haven is devoted to outdoor facilities, Vela said people can go inside to beat the heat. “Folks can go inside where it's air conditioned. They have that choice to do that. So we're taking all the precautions. We have staff walking around looking for some people that might be suffering from some sort of heat exhaustion. So we're keeping an eye on all our folks here on campus,” Vela said.
Vela said there are many ways for San Antonians to help them achieve their mission, including donations of bottled water and funds. Vela said, “We have an outreach team that is going out and looking for folks that are experiencing homelessness, and ask them to come here to Haven. And for those that don't want to come, we're leaving plenty of water and food.”
Vela said during times of extreme heat, it takes a coordinated effort to keep people safe. “If people see someone that appears to be homeless, please call us, give us a location. We'll send the outreach team out try to coax them to come to Haven. If they refuse, don't want to come, whatever the reason is, we'll leave them water and food as well.”
Here is a link to Haven for Hope: https://www.havenforhope.org/