UTICA, N.Y. – With the colder weather on the rise, the Utica Rescue Mission’s Emergency Shelter is prepared for an increase in people seeking somewhere to go to stay warm.
Right now, the mission is almost filled to capacity with 61 people staying at the shelter, but those who work at the Rescue Mission say even if the shelter fills up, they won’t turn people away, they will do what they can to find other resources to accommodate those in need.
“When it gets below 32 degrees and these guys have no where to go, regardless of their metal state or their condition, we should take them in, we are to take them in,” Anthony McDonald, the Utica Rescue Mission residential aide said. “When you have a certain amount of people here and it does get full and there’s not too many rooms or too many cots, we ask for donations of cots from other places.”
If the shelter does get overcrowded, they will contact Oneida County Department of Social Services to help find those in need, somewhere to go.
