NEWPORT, Ky. — The Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky opened and operated an emergency shelter for homeless people in Newport for the first time Sunday, expanding their protective services as a historic snow storm rolled into the region followed by frigid cold.
The shelter extended services for the second time Thursday through Monday as their staff and volunteers prepared for another round of snowfall expected Friday.
Kim Webb, the shelter's executive director, said the new site in Newport and the main facility in Covington took in 105 people Wednesday night alone.
"We're still in the midst of everything, the freezing temperatures," Webb said. "It's still deadly outside."
Webb said the facility at St. Paul Episcopal Church was staffed with three members of the team, males and females were separated by a partition and the guests were provided with mats, blankets, toiletries, games and cell phone charging stations.
She said more people had utilized the facility as word spread that it had been opened for the first time.
"What we bring to this is the trained professionals and our name and our history," Webb said. "So, people will come here because they know how they're going to be treated coming through the doors."
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Webb said none of it could have been possible without planning and collaboration with officials in the City of Newport and Campbell County.
County Assistant Administrator Justin Otto said the talks began over the summer.
"We realized that we didn't have a very good plan for a temporary shelter during cold weather events like these," Otto said.
Otto said the county was active in searching for solutions to the lack of emergency shelters so they'd be ready for something like the recent historic snowfall.
He said activation of the shelter could have been life-saving.
"If you stay out in cold weather like this without any protection, you don't have much hope," Otto said.
Webb hoped the shelter's activation would spur talks of establishing a more permanent shelter in Campbell County.
"This is the beginning, which hopes to lead to longer-term solutions to emergency sheltering in Campbell County," she said. "So this is a good first step."
Webb said in the short term they would need help to keep everyone comfortable in the two shelters.
Since everyone was largely hunkered down indoors, Webb said they didn't need additional donations of warm clothing, but did ask for donations of either money or usable items like coffee, sugar, paper plates and more to serve those staying with them.
Webb directed any physical donations to the Covington Shelter on 436 West 13th St., with a regularly updated list of what's needed on the shelter's Facebook page.
Otto advised people to sign up for Smart 911 to get emergency alerts straight to their phones, and follow the Campbell County Emergency Management Facebook page for the latest on developing situations.
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