South Dakota homeless shelters often see an influx of men, women, and children in need of a hot meal and a warm place to sleep during periods of frigid temperatures.
Tom Golden is the Program Director of the Cornerstone Rescue Mission in Rapid City. He says in addition to the normal fifty-eight beds at the Mission there are approximately fifteen more people sleeping on cots in the Mission basement.
“At this time we have not had to turn anyone away. We do everything in our power to facilitate as many as we need especially during weather like this because this is a time when we tend to show a lot of mercy to people who otherwise maybe had broken the rules in the past and things like that because obviously their safety is more important,” says Golden.
Golden says the Cornerstone Rescue Mission serves meals to anyone in need. He says the Mission welcomes donations of winter gear like hats, gloves, and coats. Officials with the Union Gospel Mission in Sioux Falls say they also still have space available.