Code Purple shelters open in Delaware

Falling temperatures and frigid wind chills as low as five below have prompted shelters statewide to open their doors to the homeless.

The National Weather Service is forecasting plummeting temperatures overnight with Tuesday’s highs only in the teens in all three counties.

New Castle County

According to Delaware’s Dept. of Health and Social Services, Friendship House in Wilmington has enacted Code Purple starting today through Friday, where volunteers will provide soup and sandwiches. The shelter also has hot beverages, paper and cleaning products and will be open each day from 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew, 720 N. Orange Street. For more information about Code Purple nights, call Bill Perkins at (302) 559-5716.

Salvation Army activates Code Purple when necessary. After 8:30 p.m., those at the sanctuary at 400 N. Orange Street will go to respective men’s and women’s shelters.

A coalition of Newark faith communities offers emergency sanctuary from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The homeless will stay in a church common room with access to bathrooms, a light evening meal, hot beverages and blankets. Those in need in the Newark area are encouraged to call (302) 544-0165.

Sussex County

Epworth United Methodist Church, 19285 Holland Glade Road in Rehoboth Beach, will open its doors at 5:30 tonight and will house individuals through Sunday. Families seeking shelter from the cold, however, will be referred to an alternative housing option. For more information, call Nan Ruhl, director of Immanuel Shelter, at (302) 604-2619.

Ruhl says the overnight sanctuary at Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth Beach would take in individuals who are homeless in Kent County or elsewhere who can get to the shelter.