Last night was a victory for Columbia as advocates for our homeless community members convinced the city council to change the threshold for opening the city’s only emergency overnight warming center from 9 degrees Fahrenheit to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. The emergency warming center’s purpose is simply to keep people alive who might otherwise perish during overnight cold snaps and does not offer significant amenities; I mention this to emphasize that there’s nothing luxurious about this particular service because I realize that some people get very angry when people without money receive something nice without suffering horribly for it.
Those that spoke at the city council meeting included representatives from JB Mobile Soup Kitchen; Race Matters, Friends COMO; Loaves and Fishes; Operation Safe Winter CoMo; People Before Projects; and CoMo for Progress. JB Mobile Soup Kitchen was started by members of the John Brown Gun Club, but now operates independently to provide hot meals to the various camps in Columbia. Race Matters, Friends COMO is an organization working for racial justice. Loaves and Fishes provides a hot meal for our homeless community daily at Wilkes United Methodist Church and is supported by many local churches and organizations. Operation Safe Winter CoMo provides tents, coats and related items to our homeless community. People Before Projects advocates for federal relief funds to be used to benefit people with less income first (rather than being given directly to wealthy people). CoMo for Progress is a political advocacy group of progressive Democrats. Members of our club associate with all of the above organizations.
The Columbia Missourian covered the city council meeting in this article.