KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It gets cold every year, but shelters like Hope Faith see that as an opportunity to provide for those in need.
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"It gets cold, trust me," said David, a participant who sleeps in the overnight shelter.
Being able to come indoors and spend the night earlier than he would've been able to in years past is a big deal to him.
Before last year, the shelter was required to wait until temperatures dropped below 32 degrees to open.
With a set open date of Dec. 1 at 6 p.m., it offers the people who stay there much more consistency.
It's the second year the shelter has been able to open this early, but it's the first year Hope Faith was able to secure the funding it uses to operate much earlier.
"Years past, we maybe got our contract and signed it the day of," Doug Langner, the executive director of Hope Faith said.
"One year it was almost an hour before we started."
This year the shelter got its contract and funding from the city of Kansas City, Missouri, weeks ago.
Langner says it made it easier to hire help, easier to plan, and easier to bring in new programs.
"No good thing just stays complacent," Langner said. "We're not just going in a circular motion doing what we did last year. This is about offering next steps, offering true solutions to people."
That work helps people find much more than just a place to sleep, it helps provide a sense of safety and consistency.
What follows in many cases is self-sufficiency. David is an example of that too, he works at Hope Faith through a temp agency.
"The money helps me out," he said. "[I'm] trying to build myself up so I can get my own place."
Yes, it gets cold every year, and yes the shelter and others like it across the metro open every year.
To Langner and people like David, it means every year there's a new chance for hope.
