Hard freeze hard on the homeless

Published 5:11 pm Wednesday, January 3, 2018

It’s been cold this week not only nationwide, but also in Southeast Texas.

Stepping outside just momentarily causes one to bundle up and hurriedly go back inside.

But imagine having no place to stay in the frigid weather, forced to live outdoors in tents in a permanent campground.

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That’s where Donald Hurley is — homeless since Tropical Storm Harvey and living on the streets. He’s been in his current location the past 10 days, struggling to stay warm and survive.

“It’s very miserable (living in the cold),” Hurley said. “It’s real cold. If Heather (Rivera, a member of Life Church in Port Arthur) hadn’t given us blankets I don’t think we would have made it last night.”

Rivera has been bringing people food, hot coffee and items to stay warm such as socks, blankets and hand-warmers.

“My two puppies got so cold, they stopped breathing but because of my (U.S. Army) Special Forces training, I saved them. We wouldn’t make it out here without them (training skills).”

For instance, some of the skills he learned in the Army to survive are to use the heat packs in Meals Ready to Eat to warm themselves up.

“Our biggest problem is finding a means of cooking,” he said. “A camp stove would be wonderful. The hardest thing is finding something dry to burn (because of all the rain).”

Hurley said he did have a Coleman cooker, but it got so cold the burner cracked and it was unusable.

Police do welfare checks on homeless residents and recommend they get in a shelter as soon as possible. The only homeless shelter around, however, is Port Cities Rescue Mission and Hurley said it is filled up during the cold weather, not taking in anyone new.

“I’m homeless because of Harvey. The city condemned the trailer I was staying in and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) denied me,” Hurley said.

He said he was denied because he bought the trailer from an individual and there was no title, only a bill of sale, and hence no legal paperwork.

In addition to losing his trailer he also lost all of his belongings. Hurley is in the process of filing an appeal with FEMA, but until then he’s homeless.

He also was denied aid by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, but he’s not giving up yet.

Moreover, he wasn’t aware he could file with the American Red Cross until it was too late and the registration period was over.

Hurley isn’t the only veteran who is homeless.

One veteran lost both his legs serving in Afghanistan. He now has to panhandle to eat. The Veterans Administration told him he didn’t qualify for a disability, Hurley said.

Furthermore, there are more than 60 people who are homeless out in the cold, staying behind a shopping center in Port Arthur. Many of them are veterans.

Those wishing to help may Life Church at 409-853-1068 and ask for Heather Rivera.