VILLAS – Lower Township Office of Emergency Management Director and former Police Chief Edward Donohue addressed Lower Township Council Nov. 18, to discuss the designation of Seashore Community Church of the Nazarene in Erma, as the official warming center of the municipality.
Previously relegated to the Lower Township Recreation facilities and employees, Donohue said the church is a better choice, when the county calls a Code Blue.
“Seashore has offered to be the warming center,” Donohue explained. “They already do a lot of outreach in the community, with their food bank and other programs.”
He pointed out that the church may see greater participation due to the fact they have a kitchen and plan to serve food.
A Code Blue alert is declared when temperatures drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, with precipitation, and below 25 degrees Fahrenheit, without precipitation, and weather conditions pose a danger to the homeless population.
The alert allows authorities to take homeless people to local shelters or other agencies, known as warming centers. The shelters make additional beds and space available until conditions improve and the alert is called off. Cape May County issued 16 Code Blue days in 2018, and has issued two Code Blue alerts in 2019 – Nov. 12 and 13.
The warming centers are staffed by volunteers who are required to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification, among other requirements.
Seashore Nazarene Pastor Timothy West said Denise South, director of Cape Hope, a homeless advocacy organization in the county, which has been responsible for operating the Middle Township warming center at Cape Community Church in Court House, offered to share the knowledge she gained from running that warming center.
Donohue explained that Martin Pagliughi, emergency management coordinator for the county, offered to provide cots for warming center clients.
He also pointed out that funds were available, from the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders, to reimburse the warming center for costs incurred.
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