By Casey Master
Climate change will continue to affect the New England region for the foreseeable future. Overall, New England has been experiencing an increase in temperature and extreme precipitation events. Worsening summer and winter conditions can lead to immediate and long-term complications for those experiencing homelessness.
Freezing Temperatures: When Minutes Matter
Freezing temperatures and snow can be especially dangerous for people experiencing homelessness without access to warm, dry shelters. Prolonged exposure to cold can cause body temperatures to drop dangerously low, otherwise known as hypothermia. Confusion, extreme tiredness, slurred speech, and loss of coordination can occur. Severe hypothermia can cause unconsciousness, heart problems, and eventually death.
Frostbite, or when skin and underlying tissue freezes, particularly on fingers, toes, ears, and the nose. Severe frostbite can cause permanent tissue damage, serious infections, and other life-threatening complications. Wet clothing makes cold worse: Snow, melting ice, and slush can soak clothing and shoes. Wet clothing loses its insulating ability, increasing the risk of hypothermia.
More generally, cold weather can worsen heart and lung conditions, and snow and ice can increase the risk of injuries. Something as simple as slipping on ice can be devastating for those who can’t afford emergency health care. The cold can also worsen existing illnesses and make it difficult to store medications, maintain hygiene, or get regular medical care.
Additionally, cold weather can make it more difficult to find shelter. Shelters may be full, have limited hours, or have rules that make them inaccessible to some people. A person may therefore have to sleep outdoors or in an unheated location.
Overall, freezing weather can turn homelessness into a life-threatening situation, especially when temperatures remain below freezing overnight. Access to heated shelters, warm clothing, dry socks, blankets, food, transportation, and medical care can make a major difference.
Heat: The Slow Killer
While many may associate New England’s most extreme weather patterns with winter blizzards, the summer can also be just as severe and potentially harmful, especially for the unhoused. Heat, heavy rain and storms, and growing changes to our climate can be devastating for people experiencing homelessness.
When people do not have consistent access to shelter, enough water, or personal care items, they are put at increased risk of heat-related illness, heat stroke, dehydration, worsening of existing health conditions, and even sunburns from extended contact with pavement sidewalks.
Unlike the cold, which can kill someone in 10-30 minutes, heat related deaths take days or sometimes weeks of consistent heat exposure. When people are consistently exposed to elevated temperatures, they are likely to experience heat-stroke which can cause organ failure and malfunction as well as internal hemorrhage. As heat intensifies in the summer, it becomes increasingly more important to provide resources and shelter to those in need to prevent adverse effects of the weather.
Heavy Rain, Storms, & Fooding
However, the heat is not the only intense weather pattern expected this summer. Exposure to heavy rain and wind can lead to skin and wound complications, and in severe cases, hypothermia. These conditions lead to a need for not only cooling centers and sun protection, but rain gear and shelter from the elements.
With heavy storms often comes flooding. Not only can flooding destroy properties and make people homeless, but it exacerbates issues facing those who are already homeless.
Like heavy rain, flooding puts those experiencing street homelessness at serious risk. Living outdoors in a flood can result in drowning, skin infection, complications with preexisting health conditions, damage to important documents and belongings, and can take a toll on mental health. In prolonged, on-going floods like we saw with Hurricane Katrina can lead to homelessness, disease, and other health concerns. Without access to clean and dry shelters, it can be difficult to dry out gear such as tents and footwear.
For those living in their cars, flooding creates the risk of losing their housing and mode of transportation all in one fell swoop. When driving through flood water, the water can infiltrate the engine, electrical systems, and can erode important parts such as door mechanisms and wiring, leaving the car virtually undrivable. Prolonged exposure to flood water can also lead to mold growth in vehicles, which can pose health risks to passengers.
Day Centers
Lifebridge North Shore, a non-profit organization serving people who are homeless, works to provide shelter and necessities to those in need on the North Shore of Massachusetts. With day centers in Salem and Gloucester and shelters in Salem and Beverly, the organization works to give everyone access to health and safety items, showers, nutritious meals, and personal care items, especially those experiencing homelessness. This mission becomes ever important as the extreme weather settles in, and the days become consistently hotter or colder.
During severe weather events, Lifebridge staff work to keep the day center open for 24 hours to provide more people with shelter. In the winter, when temperatures drop below 32 degrees, the staff automatically keeps the day center open overnight. However, with the heat, the decision is much more subjective. There is no threshold temperature to keep the day center open in the heat, and Lifebridge staff must make that call on their own. With the extreme heatwaves this summer, the day center staff has gone above and beyond in their efforts to keep the day center available overnight and provide food, water, and coffee to guests escaping the heat.
Throughout the year, people can also access health, safety, and personal care items. The Lifebridge Backpack Program provides durable, weatherproof backpacks that guests can fill with the donated items they need to take care of themselves.
Free Case Management to Work toward Permanent Housing
The most effective and permanent way to prevent the dangers associated with being exposed to the elements is safe and secure housing. Lifebridge North Shore provides free case management services to anyone who needs them. Clients work with case managers to apply for housing, address debt, and find employment to end the cycle of homelessness.
If you would like to support Lifebridge’s work, donate here. Your gift will help ensure the health and safety of our community members throughout the summer.