Coldest Nights Shelter needs donations before Jan. 1

The number of individuals with nowhere to sleep except outdoors has more than doubled in Sparta this year, and the Coldest Nights Shelter is in need of both donations and volunteers to help keep these neighbors warm through the winter months.

According to Tina Lomax, chairperson for Seeds of Hope of TN, which sponsors the Coldest Nights Shelter in Sparta, there are currently 72 people in White County without shelter of any kind. Beverly Dronebarger, White County Board of Education’s Family Resource Center director, said they have identified 55 students across the county’s schools who are currently homeless.

“These students are not included in that 72,” Lomax clarified. “They are finding shelter with friends or family members or are doing what is called ‘couch surfing’ as they move from home to home, just trying to find somewhere to stay, but they do not have an actual home.”

Lomax said the rise in number of those persons without a permanent shelter is in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said numerous families suffered from job loss, and, when the temporary hold on evictions due to non-payment of rent expired, many found themselves unable to pay the fees needed to stay in their homes.

“We understand. Landlords have bills to pay too; many of them have mortgages on their properties,” she said and explained the problem stems from a snowball effect. “It’s just an unfortunate situation for everyone, but our neighbors without shelter can’t find a way out on their own. They just need a hand in finding a way out of the situation they are in.”

Lomax said one of the biggest deterrents to getting off the streets is the deposits that are needed to get into a home.

“I have spoken to 13 ‘car sleepers’ this week, and all, except one, currently have jobs,” she explained, saying that most said they lost jobs during the early stages of the pandemic and then couldn’t afford their homes. “Now they have new jobs, but there is not enough affordable housing. There are too many obstacles for getting into a home.”

While Seeds of Hope of TN, which works year-round to help find ways to fight homelessness and meet needs of those community neighbors who have found themselves in need of a helping hand, their Coldest Nights Shelter provides for the needs during those nights, January through March, where the temperature drops below 40 degrees.

“We wanted to open in December this year, but, due to COVID, we have had to push that back to January as we did last year,” Lomax said.

She further explained the shelter is dependent on area churches that provide space, showers, and even laundry facilities and that, due to outbreaks of the virus, some churches needed more time to ensure their buildings were properly sanitized and ready to house guests.

Lomax said the shelter, which relies solely on private donations and receives no government funding, is in need of financial aid as well as several items such as what she calls ‘homeless specific foods.’

“These people don’t have a way to heat up food, so donating boxes of pasta and things like that doesn’t really help them,” she said, explaining each person who uses the shelter is equipped with a backpack full of food when they leave the next morning. “We like to provide them with things like fruit cups, single packets of tuna, pop-top cans of foods that don’t need to be heated, granola and protein bars, and water.”

There will be a few changes to this year’s shelter, the biggest one being location. The Seeds of Hope of TN has a new headquarters building located at 234 King St., and they were also given a van through a generous donation.  In addition, a Little Free Pantry is being built on the premises of the new headquarters that Lomax said will be filled with grab-and-go style food items that can be accessed anytime.

“We will be taking neighbors who are looking for shelter on those nights from the headquarters to different churches that are opening the doors to us this year,” Lomax added, saying the hope is to not burden one church with all of the nights but to rotate facilities or even use more than one a night if the need arises.

 Donations are a necessity year-round, and, according to Lomax, supporting the mission of the Seeds of Hope TN helps the community as a whole as well. She said it is estimated it can cost the community $60,000 in resources to aid the homeless population.  Law enforcement services, emergency services, and medical care as well as cleaning up debris and other garbage left behind can all take a toll on a community’s infrastructure.

Lomax said most of the White County neighbors without homes are not looking for a handout but rather a “hand up.”

Along with Lomax, other board members of the Seeds of Hope of TN include Diana Verble, David Goff, Frank Derrick, Stacy Scott, Duke Davis, Linda Baldwin, and Beverly Dronebarger.

“It’s s humbling to me to look back on some of our success stories,” she said. “We had one young lady that was raped and had a baby. Now she has actively been paying her own bills for over two years. She bought a vehicle and works 50-plus hours a week at a job she can be proud of. All because of the help she received from Seeds of Hope and our generous donors.”

Lomax said that on Giving Tuesday, which was Dec. 1, a Facebook Fundraiser Campaign that the organization began was able to raise over $5,000 toward their current $10,000 need.

“Thank you to each and every individual that was led to bless us through giving to that campaign,” she said.

Lomax also said the Facebook Fundraiser is still ongoing, and ,if anyone would like to donate, they can find the link on the Seeds of Hope of TN Facebook page. The page also has an updated list of items that are needed, should someone prefer to give that way. In addition, checks can be made out to Seeds of Hope TN and mailed to 234 King St., Sparta, Tennessee 38583, and receipts can be mailed out should they be requested.

“We need volunteers, too,” Lomax added. “We need people willing to make meals and to stay the night at the shelter with our guests on those cold winter nights.”

“When we enjoy our own comforts during this time, we need to remember there are others who don’t have,” she encouraged. “There are good people who have fallen on hard times. It could be me and you. It just isn’t - this year.”

For more information on Seeds of Hope of TN or the Coldest Nights Shelter, they can be contacted via phone at (931) 303-6695 or via Facebook Messenger or by emailing seedsofhopeofTN@yahoo.com