Temperatures Wednesday will reach 33 for the high and then fall to 19 overnight heading into Thursday morning. HumanKind Ministries (formerly Interfaith) won’t open their “overflow” shelter until Friday, November 1.
Wichita’s homeless will be forced to make due however they can. That’s where Wanda Bough steps in. The registered nurse and COO of ICT Street Team has been out this week handing out warm clothing — and she’s not done yet. Bough tells KFDI News that she’s able to pick up warm items at a low cost for the homeless, thus maximizing the donations her non-profit receives.
“For three dollars and fifty cents, I can provide somebody with gloves, a hat, scarf, Hot Hands hand warmers, and a fresh pair of socks. With any kind of inclement weather, you always want to educate people — finger, toes, ears, and nose — those are the things that are most likely to get frostbite.”
Bough says the cold temperatures came early but shelters won’t be able to open yet. She says the homeless aren’t prepared for this. While out in the streets delivering warm clothes and street medicine in the Wichita area this week, Bough says she found a man digging a hole in a hillside with a broken jar.
“He had broken — it looked like it would probably be a gallon glass jar — the bottom of it. It was almost broken in the shape of a scoop and he was digging into the side of the hillside trying to make a place where he could lay down and cover up with what little he had. So this is right in our backyard.”
ICT Street Team delivers street medicine, including over-the-counter medications. Bough says they handed out 75 bottles of OTC meds in an average week to the homeless.
You can help through their Facebook page or by texting “ICT Street” to 44-321 to give a donation. You can learn more on their Facebook page here.
The ICT Street Team Schedule is changing this winter
You won’t see the trailer out due to cold weather. Bough says they will be working indoors instead at set times and places. Find them on Thursday nights at the HumanKind Inn; Saturday mornings at St. Paul’s at 9th and Waco; and no more Wednesday nights for the duration of the winter season. The new schedule begins next week.
The “overflow” or HumanKind Inn (known previous seasons as the Interfaith Inn) will be open Friday.
