Making the best of it, everyone pitched in to pass the time by bringing out board games, puzzles, coloring books. Meals were improvised since power continued to go in and out. At night, the adults in the shelter focused on keeping things positive for the kids. Everyone got their own flashlight and they took turns telling silly stories and kids ran around making shadow puppets and playing hide and go seek.
“I hadn’t heard them laugh as hard as they did that night. What could have been miserable turned into an indoor campout atmosphere”, said Overnight Shelter Staff Beverly Pairett who stayed with them throughout the power outages.
The next day, the temperature inside the shelter was 49 degrees and it was almost unbearably cold. Thankfully, the power finally returned, but things quickly turned bad. As the pipes heated up a sudden rush of water from a burst pipe in the fire sprinkler system flooded the building. All the adults swiftly ran to help Beverly get buckets and brooms. They all worked together to prevent further damage.
We relocated the families to a hotel with coordinated support from the community and we set about making repairs. After a week, they were able to return. One little boy stepped off the bus and into the shelter and shouted “We’re home!”