
February 2025
Disclaimer: Our February newsletter was prepared at the end of December. While it includes a discussion about the opportunity of Warming Centers throughout the community, the numbers referenced reflect activity up to December 2024. Any data from the activation of Warming Centers at the start of 2025 is not included.
Last month, we entered into a new year and we kicked off our topic for the year:
Stand in the Gap = Love in the Gap. We discussed the passage from Proverbs 31:8-9,
Open your mouth for the people who cannot speak, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the poor and needy.
No one likes to be cold. No matter how high or low someone’s tolerance to the cold is, there is a point for anyone that it can be too cold to handle. According to the EPA, in recent years, U.S. death rates have been 8 to 12 percent higher than in non-winter months. While some of the increases relate to seasonal changes in individual behaviors and the human body, the cold weather can worsen pre-existing medical conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Even being exposed on a moderately cold day can increase the risk of death for many people. When windchills reach subzero temperatures - which in Kansas is almost certain, it can only be a mere matter of a few minutes until frostbite occurs.
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While we do not know what the weather can bring, this is one topic we hold very near to our hearts at TRM. Over the past few winters, we have witnessed subzero temperatures throughout the Midwest. Starting in December 2022, with the leading of the Holy Spirit, TRM’s executive director, La Manda Broyles helped lead a team of individuals to run the very first low-barrier Warming Center in Topeka. Over three days, we served 79 unduplicated individuals with the help of 70 volunteers from all over the city of Topeka. It was not until January 2024, that we faced some of the coldest and longest stretch of Arctic weather in Kansas. From January 8 through January 21, shelter was provided for 289 unduplicated individuals with the help of 256 volunteers from all over the city.
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So, here’s the question – why did we do it? Why the Warming Centers? Simply put – everyone matters. No one deserves to be cold.
In this weather, the truth is stark: people can—and they will—die if they do not find the shelter they need. While we know we cannot help everyone, we are committed to doing our very best for the lives entrusted to us.
This commitment naturally raises questions, such as, “Why operate a low-barrier shelter?” or “Isn’t TRM just enabling individuals to come into a safe, warm place while under the influence?” To address these concerns, we must start by asking another question: In a low-barrier shelter, are individuals coming in high? The honest answer is yes, there is a possibility that they are under the influence when they arrive. However, providing them access to a low-barrier shelter is not about condoning substance use. Instead, it’s about offering a chance for survival—a safe and warm environment where they can rest and warm up, but not actively use substances.
This approach is also not about condoning destructive behaviors; it’s about offering compassion and care to those in desperate circumstances, even when their situations are far from ideal. By educating ourselves and asking the right questions, we’ve gained a deeper understanding of why some individuals may turn to drugs or alcohol more frequently during the winter months than in the summer.
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For many unsheltered individuals, substance use isn’t solely an issue of addiction—it often becomes a means of survival. This is because body temperature regulation and substance use are closely linked. When faced with freezing conditions and limited resources, some may choose their next drink or hit over a coat, blanket, or firewood—not because they want to, but because it feels like the only attainable option in the moment.
Even those of us without substance use disorders can understand the desperation that comes with extreme cold. If we were left with nothing but liquor to keep warm because it was all we had access to, wouldn’t we reach for what was available? Acknowledging these realities does not excuse harmful behaviors—it allows us to better understand the harsh conditions driving them. For instance, we have come to realize that some individuals load up on alcohol because the drunkenness tends to mask the harder drugs.
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Warming Centers exist not to enable addiction but to meet people where they are. They offer a vital chance for survival and a moment of refuge that can lead to an opportunity for a different, brighter path forward. We have seen this every year we have had the Warming Centers. There have been individuals who have come in for shelter, coming down from their highs, and when they have realized they cannot keep living the way they are, we are there to help them take their next steps. Through treatment, mentoring programs, shelter with TRM, and utilizing the education classes we offer, there are several individuals who have overcome their addiction, they have mended what was broken – all by the power of the Holy Spirit, and they are now living on their own in homes and in the workforce. The Warming Centers are an option for unsheltered individuals that can offer ways to meet basic needs. However, for some, these Warming Centers are just what they needed to get a fighting chance and to start new.
As the cold gripped Topeka at the start of January, the Warming Centers became more than just a shelter—they became a beacon of hope for those who felt they were at the end of their rope. In many ways, these centers are like Topeka’s own Statue of Liberty, offering light and refuge to those seeking a chance at a better life.
Will every life that walks through our doors be changed for the better? Perhaps not. But our mission remains steadfast: to offer hope and extend a hand to those in need. Like the iconic words etched into the base of Lady Liberty, we echo the call:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Through these Warming Centers, we lift our own lamp, providing warmth and a pathway to hope for those who need it most.
Stand in the Gap = Love in the Gap. Everyone matters. †