Twin Cities shelters prepare for a long, dangerously cold night

From shelter beds — to coats — to blankets, all of it is in high demand tonight.

Cornell Jacobs has spent nights like tonight looking for a place to stay.

“It’s miserable. You are constantly on the run, you don’t get any sleep. It’s cold and it can be a miserable day,” Jacobs said.

He said people need to hear how harsh it can be, and how much a warm, safe place can matter.

A place like Sharing and Caring Hands in Minneapolis.

“I had a line this morning that just wouldn’t stop because they just don’t want to be cold tonight,” said Mary Jo Copeland of Sharing and Caring Hands.

Copeland’s team serves about 400 meals a day and has about 100 shelter beds at night. On nights like this, they try and find alternative locations for the overflow.

She also says she has given away about 1,000 coats, hats and gloves so far this winter but is still in desperate need of more blankets during this cold snap.

“If anyone out there is listening, blankets would be a wonderful thing. A blanket over a sleeping bag can really help,” she said.

About a mile away at Higher Ground Shelter, they are normally closed during daytime hours but are staying open so that people won’t have to venture outside. At night the location, which is part of Catholic Charities, has 200 beds and room for an additional ten to 15 in emergency situations. A site supervisor says they also try and arrange for courtesy rides for people to minimize their exposure to the weather.