Donations needed to fund emergency winter homeless shelter in Prescott

Anyone wishing to make a tax-deductible donation to Prescott's “Operation Deep Freeze” winter emergency shelter can do so through the GoFundMe website: gofundme.com/ODFPrescott.

Anyone wishing to make a tax-deductible donation to Prescott's “Operation Deep Freeze” winter emergency shelter can do so through the GoFundMe website: gofundme.com/ODFPrescott.

The Salvation Army for the past five years has volunteered to be the home base for a winter shelter program in Prescott, committing its staff to work alongside Quad City Interfaith Council (QCIC) volunteers and others to operate what is known as, “Operation Deep Freeze."

The QCIC, a consortium of churches, civic organizations and non-profit agencies serving the homeless, including the Salvation Army, the the Coalition of Compassion and Justice (CCJ) and the Gospel Rescue Mission see this shelter effort as a ministry to the community’s most vulnerable. The goal is to ensure no one without a home freezes to death in the cold.

Located on South Montezuma Street, the Salvation Army opens the doors for the winter shelter when the temperature is 32 degrees or below, the area experiences two consecutive days of rain or there is least two inches of snow on the ground, explained Salvation Army Capt. Sean O’Brien.

“I think it’s a valuable program,” O’Brien said. “I hate to think about people being in sub-32 degree weather when it’s snowing or raining. I don’t think anybody wants to be out in that, and I’m glad we’re able to provide some way to get people out of that weather.”

The shelter opens at 6 p.m. for a meal for both men and women; the women then are transported to sleep at the 19-bed Prescott Area Shelter Services downtown shelter program. PASS offers cots to the “Operation Deep Freeze” guests in the front room of the family-style home.

CCJ also operates a year-round emergency shelter on Madison Avenue for men, women and their pets. Unlike Operation Deep Freeze, CCJ does not have a sobriety policy for its clients.

Anyone wishing to make a tax-deductible donation to “Operation Deep Freeze” can do so through the GoFundMe website: gofundme.com/ODFPrescott.

Operation Deep Freeze video courtesy of AZ Event Video.

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